^W" 




111 









mJt 





*dU#S 



mm, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

©fptp %njri# $* 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 






>di^ 



KINSHIP TO CHRIST 



O.T 



AND OTHER SERMONS. 







By J. Z. TYLER. 






He is not ashamed to call them brethren." 




ST. LOUIS: 
JOHN BURNS, Publisher, 

717 and 719 Olive Street. 






THE UBRAl^ 



Copyrighted, 1883, 
By JOHN BURNS. 



TO THE MEMBERS 

OF THE 

SEVENTH STREET CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 

OF 

Richmond, Virginia, 

this selection of sermons is affectionately 

DEDICATED, 

IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF THEIR CONSTANT KINDNESS TO ME 

DURING MY MINISTRY AMONG THEM, 

FROM 

October 1, 1872, to February 1, 1883. 



CONTENTS. 



I. Kinship to Christ 7-17 

There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing with- 
out, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about 
. him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy breth- 
ren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who 
is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on 
them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my 
brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same 
is my brother, and my sister, and mother. Mark iii: 31-35. — 
Preached second Lord 's Day, in February, 1882. 



II. Increasing in the Knowledge of God . . . 18-29 

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to 
pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with a knowl- 
edge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that 
ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruit- 
ful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. 
Col. i: 9-10. — Preached third Lord 's Day, in October, 1880. 

III. The Central Fact in the Christian System . . 30-46 

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his dis- 
ciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, 
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; 
and that believing ye might have life through his name. John 
xx: 30-31. — Preached first Lord's Day, in January, 1877 . 

(i) 



11 CONTENTS. 

IV. The Glorious' Gospel 47-57 

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost ; in whom 
the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that be- 
lieve not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is 
the image of God, should shine unto them. II Cor. iv : 3-4. — 
Preached fourth Lord's Day, in July, 1876. 



V. Special Influence in Conversion .... 58-65 

And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city 
of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us ; whose heart the 
Lord opened, thac she attended unto the things which were 
spoken by Paul. Acts xvi:14. — ^Preached first Lord's Day, in 
October, 1882. 



VI. Your Own Salvation . . . . . . 66-80 

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not- as in my 
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your 
own salvation, with fear and trembling; for it is God which 
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Phil, 
ii : 12-13. —Preached March 2 2d, 1882. 



VII. Ordinances of the Lord 81^89 

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the com- 
mandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Luke i: 6. — 
Preached second Lord 's Day, in October, 1882. 



VIII. Safety in Shipwreck 90-96 

Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide 
in the ship ye cannot be saved. Acts xxvii:31. — Preached third 
Lord's Day, in September, 1882. 



IX. The Manifestation of Faith 97-111 

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, 
and have not works ? Can faith save him ? If a brother or sister 



CONTENTS. Ill 

be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto 
them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled ; notwithstanding 
ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; 
what doth it profit; Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, 
being alone. Yea, a. man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have 
works : show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show my 
faith by my works. James ii : 14-18. — Preached first Lord 's Day, 
in December, 1876. 

X. The Exterior and the Interior op our Deeds . 112-119 
And though I give all my goods to feed the poor, * * * and have 

not charity, it profiteth me nothing. I Cor. xiii : 3. 
For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, 
because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not 
lose his reward. Mark ix:41. — Preached third Lord's Day, in 
September, 1882. 

XI. The Unifying Power of the Cross .... 120-130 
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 

This he said, signifying what death he should die. John xii: 
32-33. — Preached fourth Lord's Day, in August, 1876. 

XII. Paul's Chapter on Charity . . . . . 131-143 
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have 

not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal 
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mys- 
teries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I 
could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 
* * * And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ; but 
the greatest of these is charity. I Cor. xiii:l-l3. — Preached first 
Lord 's Day, in February, 1882. 

XIII. The Ground of our Hope . . . . # . 144-153 
Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a 

reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. I 
Peter iii :15. — Preached second Lord 's Day, in June, 1882. 



IV CONTENTS. 

XIV. Drifting from God . 



. 154-164 



Take heed, brethren, lest there be in auy of you an evil heart of 
unbelief, in departing from the living God. Heb. iii:12. — 
Preached third Lord's Day, in October, 1882. 

XV. Christ as a Teacher 165-172 

Rabbi, we know thou art a teacher come from God : for no man can 
do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 
John iii: 2. — Preached third Lord's Day, in September, 1876. 



XVI. The Way, the Truth and the Life 



173-178 



Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man 
cometh unto the Father, but by me. John xiv : 6. — Preached fifth 
Lord's Day, in January, 1882. 



XVII. Our Sins and our Savior 



179-188 



And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus : 
for he shall save his people from their sins. Matt. i:21. — 
Preached third Lord's Day, in February, 1882. 



XVIII. Christ's Purposes in our Conversion 



. 189-199 



But I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I 
am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Phil, iii :12. — Preached second 
Lord's Day, in August, 1882. 



XIX. Christless Reformation . 



200-209 



When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in 
peace ; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and 
overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he 
trusted, and divideth his spoils. * * * When the unclean 
spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seek- 
ing rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house 



CONTENTS. V 

whence I came out. And when he cometh he findeth it swept 
and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other 
spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and dwell 
there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. 
Luke xi : 21-26. — Preached second Lord's Day, in February, 1881 . 

XX. The Fruit of the Spirit 210-221 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gen- 
tleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such 
there is no law. Gal. v: 22-23. — Preached third Lord's Day, in 
May, 1874. 

XXI. Christ's Lessons from the Vineyard ... . 222-231 

I am the true wine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every 
branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away ; and every 
branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth 
more fruit, etc., etc. John xv:l-6. — Preached second Lord's 
Day, in September, 1876. 

XXII. Hinderances : 232-239 

Ye did run well ; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the 
truth? Gal. v:7. — Preached second Lord's Day, in September, 
1880. 

XXIII. Obedience to Heavenly Visions . . , . . 240-249 

Whereupon, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly 
vision. Acts xxvi:19. — Preached fourth Lord's Day, in October, 
1877. 

XXIV. The Divine Estimate of Man .... 250-258 

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon 
and the stars, which thou hast ordained ; what is man, that thou 
art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 
Psalm viii : 3-4. — Preached second Lord 's Day, in December, 1 881 . 



VI CONTENTS. 

XXV. Mutual Helpfulness 259-270 

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, 

and not to please ourselves. Kom. xv :1. 
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Gal. 

vi: 2. — Preached fourth Lord's Day, in August, 1877. 

XXVI. Service and Honor 271-280 

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there 
shall also my servant be ; if any man serve me him will my Father 
honor. John xii : 26. — Preached third Lord 's Day, in June, 1875. 

XXVII. Here and Hereafter 281-291 

Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth 
that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of 
the flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the spirit shall 
of the spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in 
well doing : for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Gal. 
vi : 7-9. — Preached second Lord 's Day, in October, 1877. 

XXVIII. Idlers Interviewed 292-304 

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others stand- 
ing idle, and said unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 
Mat. xx : 6. — Preached fourth Lord's Day, in December, 1879. 

XXIX. Distinctive Peculiarities of the Disciples . 305-332 

But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest, for as concern- 
ing this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. 
Acts xxviii: 22. — Preached first Lord's Day, in March, 1882. 



KINSHIP TO CHRIST, 

AND OTHER SERMONS. 



KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 

There came then his brethren and his mother, and standing with- 
out, sent unto him calling him. And the multitude sat about him, 
and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother aucl thy brethren with- 
out seek for thee. And he answered them saying: Who is my 
mother, or who my brethren? And he looked round about him, and 
said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall 
do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister and 
mother. — Mark iii : 31-35. 

I feel that it is difficult for us to realize how widespread 
and intense was the enthusiasm awakened by the ministry of 
Christ. His works were so wonderful and so philanthropic, 
while his teaching in its freshness, its tenderness, and its 
adaptation to human wants, was so unlike anything they had 
ever heard, that the people gathered about him from every 
part of the land. The incident recorded in the text occurred 
at a time when a wave of popular enthusiasm was rapidly 
rising about him. Mark tells us, in an earlier part of this 
chapter, that from Galilee, and from Judea, and from Jeru- 
salem, and from over in Idumsea, and from about Tyre and 
Sidon down by the sea, there came great multitudes. It was 
such an uprising of the people as we have never witnessed, 
and it is difficult for us even to imagine. 

In the midst of such surroundings the answer which Jesus 
made to the request of his mother and his brethren seems 

(7) • 



8 KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 

peculiarly hard. He appears to ignore them in the hour of 
his popularity. . It looks, at first glance, as if he undervalued 
the tender ties of the family. And, there are opposers of his 
religion who fancy they find in this incident, and others in his 
life, not only an undervaluation of family ties, but a posi- 
tive disregard of their obligation. And, not only that he 
contemptuously set aside these claims, but that his teaching 
would produce the same sad results among his followers. 
They make the startling statement that, ' ' under the full 
sway of Christianity as taught by Christ and his apostles, 
the natural ties of the family would be dissolved and the 
household would go down under religious fanaticism." 

This scarcely deserves consideration in the presence of 
those who know the facts of his personal life and are in any 
measure familiar with the development of the history of the 
religion established in his name. As a child he was obedi- 
ent to his parents ; and even in the pain and agony of the 
dying hour, he affectionately remembered his widowed mother 
and provided for her a hospitable home. We know that 
wherever his teachings have been received family ties have 
been elevated and sanctified. The New Testament, in the 
wide sweep of its instruction, touches every possible 
relation, — husbands to wives, wives to husbands; parents 
to children, children to parents ; brother to brother ; sister 
to sister ; masters to servants, and servants to masters, — its 
instructions extend to every point in the circle of home with 
the magic touch of love and purity and make it a type of the 
holiest spiritual relationships and a symbol of the fellow- 
ship of Heaven. The religious delusion of the Shaker, 
the morbid fanaticism of the monastery and the nunnery, 
the celebacy of the clergy, and similar social monstros- 
ities find no sanction from Christ or elsewhere in the 
Word of God. The Scriptures sanction and sanctify the 






KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 9 

marriage tie, teach reverent regard for parents, make the 
relation between master and servant less rigorous, and fill 
the home with the fragrance and melody of love. 

When, therefore, our Savior answers the request from his 
mother and his brethren as he does in the text, we cannot 
suppose that he means to ignore the relationship they sus- 
tained to him, but he finds in the occasion a fitting oppor- 
tunity to teach them of a higher and holier relationship 
based upon other conditions. It is as if he had said, 
" While the family according to the flesh, has in it the dear- 
est ties of nature, I am come to establish among the divided 
and discordant elements of society a family in which will be 
found stronger and holier ties, arising from a new birth and 
binding the children of God into an eternal brotherhood.' * 
He makes this fact stand out prominently by the contrast. 
' ' Who is my mother or my brethren ? * * * * Who- 
soever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and 
my sister and mother." 

The first thought, lying upon the very surface of the 
event, is the marvellous fact that the Son of God has 
kindred among the children of men. That is a fact ; not 
a poetic fancy. And this fact so wonderful to every one 
who pauses to consider it, marks a new era in the history 
of our race. 

It was this coming brotherhood that formed the burden of 
the prophetic preaching of John, the harbinger of Christ. In 
the wilderness he cried, "Behold, the kingdom of Heaven is 
at hand. ' ' And when Christ entered upon his public ministry 
he took up the same prophetic cry. The Twelve w r ere sent 
upon their limited mission, and the seventy, to make the 
same announcement in the villages and cities and towns of 
that land. The Kingdom is at hand! The kingdom of 
Heaven is at hand ! 



10 KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 

What was the meaning of this? Certainly, that a new era 
in the world's history was ready to open. But what was 
meant by the kingdom of which they spoke? Was it that 
some heaven-sent and heaven-crowned king was about to 
establish a throne* like that of the Caesars, and rule over an 
empire like that of Rome ? A kingdom of force and imperial 
authority? A kingdom not united by an inward unity, but by 
outward compulsion? I fear too many take this prophetic 
announcement and interpret it by the lowest and most earthly 
features of an earthly kingdom. But remember that Christ 
said, " My kingdom is not of this world." In its origin, its 
nature, its principles, its purposes, its methods, and its out- 
ward appearance it is not of this world. It is a reign rather 
than a kingdom. It is the sway of divine love over the 
hearts of men, filling and flooding them with goodness, as the 
moon sways the tides, and floods the estuaries and inlets along 
our coast. It is the reign of grace over fallen human nature 
as the sun reigns over the barren grounds of the fields in 
spring, quickening the hidden seed and nourishing it into a 
full harvest. Let us do away with crude mechanical, earthly 
notions of God's kingdom among men. Let us not think 
of the church of Christ as a combination of men and women, 
subscribing to a creed, supplied with grades of officers, and 
governed by police regulations. 

The prominent feature of the church is brotherhood. It 
is Christ's spiritual family. He gathered around him chosen 
men and taught them fresh lessons of God. He led them up 
in thought. He breathed into them something of his own 
spirit. He poured upon them, out of his heart, warm, quick- 
ening love. There was found in his work nothing of the 
cold manipulations of the ritualistic Rabbi. He gave them 
liberty by giving them life. As he unfolded God's will they 
saw love in it, goodness in it, grace in it, fatherhood in it, 



KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 11 

and with the spirit of sons rather than of slaves they bowed 
before that will and sought to do it. Upon this group he 
looked, over these he waved his hand, as he said, wt Behold 
my brethren." Here was the church in embrj 7 o. Tt was a 
brotherhood. 

But, as a stone cast into the pool makes first a small 
circle immediately about itself, and then others beyond, 
wider and wider, until they touch the margin, so this 
fraternal circle would be enlarged. Not these only but 
** whosoever shall do the will of God." The circle sweeps 
out. It goes beyond national boundaries, it sweeps away 
social barriers, it uproots prejudices, it melts selfishness, it 
drowns bigotry, it overturns whatever stands in its wa}^ until 
Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncireumcision, barbarian, 
Scythian, bond and free stand within the circle of this 
Scriptural brotherhood. This was the church in its primitive 
simplicity. It was a spiritual family. Its members are 
akin to each other, because each is akin to Christ. 

Without this thought of kinship we cannot have the right 
idea of the church. Men may form themselves into partner- 
ships for the conduct of business ; they are bound together 
by a business contract. This is not a type of the church. 
Nations are made by the conquest of provinces and are held 
together by force, yet though they all yield obedience to the 
same laws and are governed from the same throne the type 
of the church is not found in the nation. Armies are 
gathered of scattered individuals and are bound into a body 
by the force of military authority. There is unity in an 
army.. But it is not the unity which forms the members of 
the church into one bod}^. The unity of the family is the 
unity of the church, as the family itself is the best tj^pe 
of the church. Our Father is the king; Christ's spiritual 
brotherhood the kingdom. 



12 KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 

The second point to which I turn is this — The ground 
upon which this kingdom rests. " Whoever shall do the will 
of God." This, it seems to me, cuts up, by the very roots, 
two theories held upon this point. The first is, that the 
position of any one of our race in this family depends wholly 
and absolutely upon the sovereign choice of God» As is 
stated in one of the creeds, — " By the decree of God, for 
the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are 
predestinated unto everlasting life," — and more, — that 
this choice and decree was ' ' out of His mere free grace and 
love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perse- 
verance in either of them, or anything in the creature, as 
conditions, or causes moving him thereunto." Yet Jesus 
saj^s that entrance into this family is conditioned upon doing 
the will of God. I suppose it will not be claimed by any, in 
answer to this, that men may enter into everlasting life with- 
out entering into spiritual kinship with Christ. Life itself 
is dependent upon this kinship, and the kinship rests upon 
doing. Life, therefore, depends upon doing. If it depends 
npon doing it cannot depend wholly upon arbitrary choice 
and decree. 

The second theory is that fleshy birth of Christian parents 
gives the child a place in this spiritual family. The creed 
from which I have just quoted says, in its definition of the 
church, that it l ' consists of all throughout the world who 
profess the true religion, together ivith their children.' " Now, 
while it is true that a position in the great Jewish family or 
nation depended upon the birth of the flesh, it is also true, 
that this is one of the points of sharp contrast between that 
people and the spiritual Israel of God. The birth of flesh 
has absolutely nothing to do with this. How godly soever 
your parents may be it gives to you no claim to any position 
or privilege. " Think not to say within yourselves, we have 



KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 13 

Abraham to our Father. " It will not profit. The ground 
now is, ' ' whosoever shall do the will of God. ' ' 

But let us guard against the danger of giving to this state- 
ment a narrow and slavish application. The doing of which 
Christ speaks is born of love and faith. It is not the careful 
observance of any number of specific commandments. Here 
is where the Pharisee made his mistake. He selected and 
classified commands. He gave a slavish observance to 
them. He was diligently doing commandments, and yet he 
was not in any worthy sense doing the will of God. Sup- 
pose your child should treat you in a similar way. If you 
are such a father as you should be your will should govern 
your household. Your will is good- will and its benign and 
gentle sway over your home fills it with joy. But your child 
responds to your will as a slave to the tyranny of a task- 
master. You ask it to do something and, in a servile spirit, 
it does the specific thing named and in the exact manner, but 
there it stops. You kindly bid it do something else, and it 
is done. And so, day after day, without the inspiration of 
filial devotion, without the sympathetic spirit that can inter- 
pret your will and read your pleasure even where specific 
commands for the detail of each duty are not given, day 
after day, in such a servile spirit, your child goes about your 
home doing your commandments! What a child! What a 
home where such a spirit rules or serves ! Save me from such 
a home, and save me from such a church ! 

It is true that a commandment is a revelation of will, and 
because it is, it should be cheerfully obeyed. But doing the 
will rises above the thought of doing any number of specific 
commandments. Whatever, in any degree, indicates the 
divine will is a light upon the path of Christian life. The 
spirit of his promises, the nature of his threatenings, the 
objects of his benedictions, the general tone of his message, 



14 KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 

the earth-life of his Son, the character of those who live most 
with him, all these and many more blend their light in a 
revelation of his will. To be a Christian, then, is to have 
the will of the Supreme, the Supreme will in us. It is to be 
under its gentle sway and guidance. 

Then, too, there is this feature in God's will never 
wanting — it is always good- will. If you show me that which 
is cruel and selfish and malign I know that it is not God's 
will. Nor can he be under the sway of God's will in whom 
such elements are found. Take no narrow view of God's 
gracious will. Do not think you can give full expression to 
it in three commandments, or ten commandments, or a hun- 
dred commandments, or any number of specific command- 
ments. Do not for one moment suppose that because you 
have exercised faith and made the good confession of Christ, 
because you have sorrowed over sin and been baptized, that 
therefore you have met the full meaning of the condition 
given in the text. 

It was my purpose to mention and to make promi- 
nent the thought that this condition commends itself by its 
very reasonableness. I can give only a few points, and leave 
them, without elaboration. First, it is reasonable that we 
should be received back to God through submission to his 
will, because we fell through casting it off. It is reasonable, 
in the second place, because it requires conformity to the 
image of Christ, his Eternal Son. And, finally, because it 
opens the way to all alike, — " Wliosoever," etc. 

I have spoken of the wonderful fact that the Son of God 
has kindred among men, and shown from that, what seems to 
me to have been his idea of the church — a spiritual brother- 
hood or family ; I have pointed out the ground upon which 
this brotherhood is based, and have contrasted it with theo- 
ries, and have sought to elevate and enlarge our conceptions of 



KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 1 d 

meant by doing the will of God. One point remains. 
It is the superiority of spiritual to carnal kinship, Christ 
puts this before us very strikingly in the incident recorded 
in the text. "These about me are more truly my kindred 
than those who stand without desiring to see me," is his 
conduct framed into words. Spiritual kinship is superior to 
carnal 

It is more comprehensive. If I am a Christian, — if Christ 
is my brother, — then I can stand here and under the shield 
of Christ's words in the text say that whosoever, in the 
whole world, is doing the will of God "is my brother, my 
sister, my mother. Let sectarian walls tumble down, let 
party lines be blotted out, let selfish conceits perish, This 
brotherhood is not fully enrolled on the church books of any 
one denomination. It is larger than any ecclesiastical organ- 
ization, whatever its name or its pretensions. Its circle em- 
braces all social classes, all nations, all tongues. Yea, it 
reaches beyond this earth. It is the one unbroken family, 
whether in heaven or in earth. 

It is more lasting. We know but little of what we shall 
find beyond the gate of death, but the Scriptures indicate 
that carnal ties, family bonds, will be, in a great measure, 
obscured and forgotten. But the hidden ties by which we 
have been bound together in this spiritual brotherhood will 
only begin to reveal their full strength when we reach Home. 
The fellowship will be sweeter. Death cannot break it. On 
forever and forever, without rupture, without discord, with- 
out end, shall go this spiritual family of Christ. 

It brings superior blessings. What may come to us from 
family connection, — what social standing, what natural 
gifts, what inheritance ! How great the honor of being of 
the family to which Christ belonged, according to the flesh. 
Once, as Jesus was teaching, "a certain woman out of the 



16 KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 

multitude lilted up her voice, and said unto him, " Blessed 
is the womb that bare thee and the breasts which thou didst 
suck. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear 
the word of God, and keep it." Many thousands to-day 
reverently worship Mary because she was his mother. But 
greater blessing comes of doing God's will, freely and lov- 
ingly, than comes of simple motherhood to Jesus. He is my 
brother. With a brother's love he loves me. God is my 
Father. Not in theory — not in a word only — but in 
blessed reality. The Spirit is my helper and my comforter. 
Heaven is my home. I am made an heir of God — a joint- 
heir with Jesus Christ. 

It is more binding in its^obligation. For, while the Scrip- 
tures inculcate obedience to parents, should a conflict arise 
by which your obligations to your parents come in conflict 
with your obligation to your Heavenly Father you are 
solemnly to renounce all for his will. Christ says, "If you 
love father or mother more than me ye cannot be my disci- 
ple." Such a conflict can scarcely arise in the life of any 
one here, but should it — should parental ties stand in the 
way of doing God's will, rise above these ties and choose to 
do God's will. How many have in early times left all for 
this? How many have faced death to do God's will? Yet 
we hesitate when but the smallest obstacle presents itself. 
What hinders you to-day from becoming a Christian ? Is 
the excuse one you would dare to present to God ? 

I conclude with this thought, that Christ is not ashamed 
of his kinship. Paul says, "For both he that sanctifieth 
and they who are sanctified are all of one ; for which cause 
he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Christ himself 
said, "Whoso shall confess me before men, him will I 
confess before my Father and the holy angels." 

I open at the twenty- fifth chapter of Matthew, and a scene 



KINSHIP TO CHRIST. 17 

of awful significance and grandeur rises before me. A 
throne — a judge — the sound of trumpets — the gathering 
of nations — multitudes, multitudes, multitudes which no 
man can number. It is the end of time. It is the day of 
judgment. It is the assemblage of the universe. Christ 
will own them then. He will identify the humblest one of 
them with himself, saying, " Inasmuch as ye have done it 
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
unto me." The king goes down if he is not akin to Christ ; 
the sage is unhonored if he did not learn God's will and do 
it; the warrior is not acknowledged if he has not in life 
taken Christ as the captain of his salvation. It is the time 
for the family gathering. His kindred hear him say come, 
and the great doors to his Father's house, with its many 
mansions, are thronged. Here they are coming up out of 
every nation, and kindred, and people and tongue, under the 
whole heavens. I cannot count them. No man can number 
them. Come, narrow bigot, and try to count them. Come, 
you who are dealing out God's grace to men and fencing 
in the elect, come and number these multitudes. It will do 
you good to try? Who are they? Ask Christ, and he an- 
swers, these are my kindred coming home, for "whosoever 
shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my 
sister and mother. ' * 

2 



INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 

For this cause we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease 
to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the 
knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 
that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being 
fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of 
God. Col. i: 9,10. 

The thought which runs through this entire passage comes 
out most clearty in its last clause — "increasing in the 
knowledge of God." The passage is part of a prayer. 
Paul's nature was so finely strung — his sjnmpathies were so 
responsive and he was so conscious of the divine presence 
that thoughts of his brethren moved his heart to prayer. 
And so we frequently meet with mention of these prayers : 
sometimes, as in this case, he gives a summary statement of 
their substance. 

He had heard of their faith in Christ Jesus, of their love 
for all the saints, and of the fruit the} r had brought forth 
since the day they had known the grace of God in truth. 
For all this he was thankful, and knowing that in all these 
things they would continue to grow, and that their joy in 
them would be deepened should they increase in the knowl- 
edge of God, the fountain of all good, he prayed for this 
increase. In addition to this, he esteemed personal, heart- 
knowledge of God of the greatest intrinsic value. It is not 
only the spring of spiritual excellence, but the ultimate aim 
of all revelation. 

In the lesson for this morning l you may have observed 



1 Rom.i: 19-32. 
(18) 



INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 19 

how Paul traces the moral degradation of the Gentiles to 
their loss of the knowledge of God. They did not like to 
retain a true and pure conception of Him. When they knew 
Him they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful. 
They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an 
image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and to 
four-footed beasts, and to creeping things. Then, in the 
strong language of Paul, God gave them up to unclean- 
ness, and to vile affections, and over to reprobate minds. 
With the skill of a master he sketches this frightful picture 
of moral degradation, and then with the insight of a pro- 
found philosopher he lays his finger upon that out of which 
it all came. 

Since, then, moral degradation comes of the loss of the 
true knowledge of God, moral elevation and sanctification 
must find tbeir main spring in this knowledge. It is a vain 
thing to attempt to purify and to adorn with moral beauty 
that which carries degraded and degrading conceptions of 
God within. Whether we will it or not, theology, in its 
strict sense, lies at the basis of right living. 

What, then, are our conceptions of God? While I recog- 
nize the sacredness which rightly belongs to the hidden 
thoughts of our hearts in these matters of our holy religion, 
I venture to press this as a personal question, — What is 
your conception of God? When you bow down to pray; 
when you. withdraw to meditate ; when 3'ou read the Holy 
Scriptures " alone with your beating heart and your God ; " 
when thoughts of the great change come and the meeting 
which must be beyond, what image of the Eternal One rises 
before you? In your best moments, when you are lifted 
into the region of clear and vigorous thinking, what are your 
visions of God? Or, is God only a name? Does it stand 
simply for vastness and the majesty of vagueness? You 



20 INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 

recognize the fact that the Bible uniformly teaches that He 
is a person, but is he really personal to you, and, if so, what 
is the character of that personality ? 

I do not hold that any one may know the Almighty to per- 
fection. He is infinite. We can know only in part. Not 
until our senses are multiplied so that channels lie open 
along which all knowledge may flow, and not until our nature 
is so enlarged that it can comprehend the infinite, will it be 
possible for us to know God in the fullness of that knowl- 
edge. He lies above us and beyond, and is far greater than 
all human thought. Yet it is important that our part-knowl- 
edge be correct, so far as it goes, and we should recognize 
the possibility of its increase beyond all past growth. Let us 
not delude ourselves by supposing that because we are 
Christians, because we already know something of him, that 
there is no need for enlarged views of his character. Those 
for whom this prayer was offered were not unbelievers, they 
were not skeptics, but they were believers in Christ and had 
learned of the grace of God in truth. They were Christians, 
yet Paul prayed that they might be filled with a knowledge 
of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding and 
that they might, beyond all present attainments, increase in 
the knowledge of Him. So pray I for ourselves. I pray that 
there may be awakened within us a longing for fuller knowl- 
edge, a deeper crying out after Him, a hungering and a 
thirsting for this feast and fountain of the soul. 

This knowledge is not an intuition, nor does it come to us 
as an inspiration. We are to seek for it. It comes to rever- 
ent hearts as a reward of earnest search. The light which 
reflects the divine character falls upon us from various 
quarters ; we are to combine the instructions of many 
teachers. 

1. I mention, first of all, a devout study of his works. 



INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OP GOD. 21 

"For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the 
world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things 
that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity. ' ' So 
says Paul. Nor is a profound scientific knowledge of these 
works most needed ; a reverent spirit is their best interpreter. 
In the Roman letter the Gentiles are said to have been with- 
out excuse for their ignorance and immorality. Creation 
was a revelation of the Creator so simple that they might 
have known Him. It was their Bible. 

I have somewhere seen the story of a king who employed 
an architect to erect a very extensive and magnificent build- 
ing, and in order that he might have all the glory of it he 
decreed that the name of the architect should nowhere appear 
in the building. But the ingenious architect so designed it 
that should you stand at a certain point, the beams and 
pillars and cross bars would form the letters of his name. 
So has the Great Architect framed this material universe. 
But we must occupy the right position. We must stand in 
the proper place. David knew but few of the lessons of 
our modern sciences, and they were the simplest, yet as he 
looked up with a reverent heart he exclaimed, ' ' The heavens 
declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his 
handiwork." 

Much of the teaching of Christ rests upon the hypothesis 
that nature is a revelation of the divine character. Many of 
his lessons concerning God were drawn from this source. 
He walked forth under the blue skies and into the fragrant 
fields and said, "Behold the fowls of the air," and, " Con- 
sider the lilies of the field," and, " The Kingdom of Heaven 
is like seed cast into the ground." All things about him 
were redolent of the thoughts of God. To him the material 
universe was a Bible, full of suggestive texts. And this is 
one reason why his teaching had such a wonderful freedom 



22 INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 

about it — it was fresh as the early dew, and fell upon wait- 
ing hearts like rain upon the dry and thirsty ground. 

As the still waters below reflect from their depths the 
quiet stars above, so is the Maker of all things reflected from 
all things He has made. And He is greater than all. As the 
watchmaker's genius and skill are shown by the watch he has 
made, and as he is greater than the watch, so of God. Crea- 
tion is crystallized thought. It is, in the strict sense, an evo- 
lution. Wisdom, power, beauty, goodness, — all there is in 
it, — was first in Him who is the author of it. It feebly repre- 
sents Him. The canvas breathes with life and glows with 
beauty under the magic touch of the artist's pencil, but more 
beautiful than the picture upon the canvas is the picture 
resting upon his soul. The richest melody that rises from 
the singer is but an echo of the richer that still rolls in sweet 
cadences within. The artist is more than his picture ; the 
singer is more than his song. 

How strange that any should think that the Maker of all 
is less than all He has made ! If there is harmony, melody, 
music and beauty ; if there is wisdom and honor and fore- 
thought and goodness all about us and above us what must 
God be ! Go forth under the stars and ask — what must 
their Maker be ; standing upon the beach and looking out 
upon the wide ocean ask — what must the great God be ; 
pause by the beautiful fragrant flower with your question — 
what must their Father be ? Walk to and from in this great 
house He has built and ask what must the builder of it be. 
Let your thoughts ascend the stairway of the material uni- 
verse, let fancy go on free wing among the things of God, 
in the spirit of earnest inquiry and reverent worship, and 
you must increase in your knowledge of God. 

2. But, even better than this is a devout study of His 
written word. Character comes out in what one says. Out 



INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 23 

of the heart, the mouth speaketh. And for this was the 
word of God given. It is a revelation of Himself. It speaks 
of many other persons and things, but all in subordination 
to this chief purpose. When it tells of Adam and Enoch 
and Abram and of the patriarchs, it is that by means of these 
we may learn of Him. All history, all prophecy, all law, all 
ceremony, all poetry, in short, all things found within the 
volume of this book are placed there that they may enrich 
our knowledge of its author. These form the scenery — the 
setting of the picture — and the picture is of God. 

Nor is this picture flashed upon the canvas in a moment. 
It appears slowly. Events are strokes of the brush. Power, 
wisdom, justice, holiness, love, fatherhood are brought out 
through centuries. Nor are all the parts of this picture 
grouped together and brought out fully at any one place. 
They extend through the entire book and lie half concealed 
under incidents, are enfolded in laws, appear in promises, 
shine out of ceremony and form the soul of sacred history. 

If we would find God we must search the Scriptures. 
Ransack them. That is what Christ meant when he said 
search. Carefully examine every part — look diligently into 
every nook and corner. 

I take this book into my hands to learn all I possibly can 
concerning its author. I approach it reverently. I do 
not handle it just as I would any other book. This is 
God's book — not only that He gave it, but because it re- 
veals Him. From first to last it is about the Invisible One. 
I enter upon my search, I read many things, but I search 
among them all for fuller, clearer knowledge of God. I pause 
and think ; I lift my heart in prayer. Events pass in review 
before me with rapid, solemn tread, and I eagerly listen for 
the footfall of God, for I know He is in their midst directing 
their march. I walk with Enoch in his walk with God ; I 



2 I INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 

follow Abram in his wanderings from his native land, know- 
ing the divine presence blesses and guides him ; I rest with 
Jacob on his stony pillow and look with upward gaze along 
the ladder of vision into the opened heavens ; I go with 
Moses into the holy mount and tremble at the display of 
divine majesty and the voice of the Omnipotent ; I frequent 
the school of the prophets ; I ponder the mystery of the 
Urim and Thummim ; I linger in the temple, hanging upon 
the notes of its inspired song, and studying its divinely ap- 
pointed ritual ; I become a companion of Elijah and Elisha, 
and follow the Baptist into the wilderness ; I become a dis- 
ciple in the school of Christ, and attend apostles and evan- 
gelists on their holy missions, until amid the heavenly 
splendors of that memorable Lord's day, I rest with the 
beloved disciple on the isle of Patmos. All the while I have 
been a searcher after God. At each step I have added 
something to my store of knowledge and blessed experience. 
I have gathered sheaves from the field of revelation as I have 
wandered from Eden to Patmos. This is the way to read 
the Bible. It is God's book revealing Himself. Search it. 
Search with a reverent purpose, search with a diligent heart, 
search in all its parts for a larger, better knowledge of him. 
3. The third means of this increase is a careful study of 
that which is best in man. Christ used this method. You 
remember how he said, in the Sermon on the Mount, " What 
man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give 
him a stone ? or if he ask a fish will he give him a scorpion ? 
If ye then, .being evil, know how to give good gifts to your 
children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven 
give good gifts to them that ask him ? ' * That is as if he had 
said, you can understand heavenly fatherhood through 
earthly fatherhood. If you in your imperfection, your self- 
ishness can so care for yours, will not the perfect and un- 



INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 25 

selfish and infinitely benevolent Father do far better for all 
who call upon him ? Paul also adopts this same method when 
he would lift us up into an understanding of the fullness of 
the divine heart, "For scarcely for a righteous man will one 
die," says he, " yet peradventure for a good man some would 
even dare to die. But God commended his love toward us, 
in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." This 
is as if he had said, love is the same both in heaven and in 
earth. If you desire to understand the greatness of God's 
love, call up the cases of strongest love among men and say 
God's love for man — sinful man — is far greater than that. 
The best there is in man is a reflection of what there is in 
God. 

The possibility of a revelation of the divine character rests 
upon the supposition that elements in that character find 
their correspondence in man. If fidelity, and mercy, and 
love, and patience, and all moral qualities in God in no way 
resemble the qualities in man which bear these names, how 
can we know what they are in him? Should you come to me 
and say, " I have just returned from Australia and I saw 
there birds of most gorgeous plumage," and then proceed to 
describe them, using names of colors with which I am fami- 
liar, but in a sense radically different from that in which I 
am accustomed to use them, so far from your giving me a 
just idea, your description would be misleading. When you 
say blue, or red, or orange you do not mean the colors we 
see in these windows and designate by these names. You 
mean something wholly different. Red does not mean red ; 
blue does no mean blue. So it must be with reference to 
names for moral qualities when they are applied to God. If 
they do not mean in that case substantially the same as when 
applied to man, then, so far as any revelation to us is con- 
cerned, they mean worse than nothing. They are misleading. 



26 INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 

You rnay take that which is purest and best in man and 
sa} T , this is like God, only God is infinitely purer and better. 
Gather the most exalted elements from different persons and 
harmoniously combine these into a single character and you 
can say, God is infinitely above this. Take love out of 
motherhood, providence and affectionate government out of 
fatherhood, take sweet sympathies out of sisterhood, and 
fidelity out of brotherhood and unite them all into one, and 
God is infinitely better than that. Justice, mercy, fidelity, 
purity, patience, benevolence, love — all moral qualities in 
man — reflect these qualities in the Divine One. 

Since I have learned this simple lesson how much nearer, 
how much more personal and helpful God seems to me. There 
was a time when he seemed so remote, so vague, so vast, so 
cold, that thoughts of him brought no delight to my heart ; 
no inspiration to my fainting spirit He seemed the combina- 
tion of intelligence and law and force. And are there not some 
among } t ou who still think of him thus ? You have troubles 
and you long for your mother, and for dear friends of other 
days, saying, " If my dear trusted ones were only here so I 
could unbosom myself to them and be soothed by their sym- 
pathies, but they have been taken away! To whom can I 
go? " But why not go to God? Is it not because 3^011 have 
never felt that he really cares for you? So of all human 
wants, of all heartaches, of all weariness, of all sorrow, when 
you come to know God better you will carry all to him as to 
a sympathetic, helpful one. We can never fully know him, 
but we may know him for comfort, for guidance, for salva- 
tion. 

4. But better than a study of that which is best in man, I 
place a devout study of the character of Christ as shown in his 
earth-life. He was a revelation of the Father. Y r ou remem- 
ber that Philip, on a certain occasion, said to him, " Lord 



INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 27 

show us the Father and it sufficeth us," and that Jesus re- 
plied, " Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast 
thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen 
the Father." Paul says, "In him dwelleth all the fulness 
of the Godhead bodily." Nowhere can we find God so 
fully manifested as in Christ. He shows us his character ; 
he reveals his great loving heart. God was in Christ. The 
gospel records possess a matchless interest, when we re- 
member that the incidents contained within them reflect the 
character of our Father by reflecting the character of his 
only-begotten and well-beloved Son. 

But in our study of the memoirs of Jesus we must look 
upon these wonderful works and gracious words to find what 
he was in the essential features of his character. We may 
be familiar with the incidents of his life, and be able 
to repeat his words without, in any worthy sense, 
being familiar with him. We may know that he was 
born in Bethlehem, and that he fled into Egypt, and 
grew up in Nazareth, and went up to Jerusalem when twelve 
years of age, and was baptized in the Jordan, and dwelt in 
Capernaum, and made frequent circuits of Galilee, and passed 
through every part of Palestine fulfilling his ministry, and 
that he healed the sick, and opened the eyes of the blind, and 
fed the hungry, and raised the dead, and was crucified, and 
buried and raised to life again, and that he ascended to 
heaven — we may be familiar with every incident and be 
able to picture it all in our imaginations — and yet not know 
him. What he did showed what he was. The story of his 
life is an empty, idle story, unless we use it. 

The older I grow the greater is the charm for me in the 
gospels. I cannot weary in my study of Christ. His 
nature is a great deep, and I feel more than ever that I can- 
not fathom it. New beauties continually appear. He is the 



28 INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 

fairest among ten thousand and the one altogether lovely. 
His unselfishness shines forth everywhere ; his benevolence 
was soft and serene, with the chaste beauty of a morning in 
spring, when the air is full of life and peace. He was full 
of helpfulness. The people soon perceived this and gathered 
about him as thirsty ones about a refreshing fountain, and 
hungry ones to a feast. They brought their sick and afflicted 
and he healed them. His miracles proclaim his divinity 
more by their benevolence than by their marvellous power. 
He was tender towards the penitent, yet terrible in His denun- 
ciations of hypocrisy. The most timid might approach him. 
A child could take him by the hand. He was infinitely tender 
toward all that was sincere — it was a tenderness that warmed 
and softened and saved. He was merciful, yet just in judg- 
ment. His long-suffering, his forbearance, his patience sur- 
pass a mother's. His goodness took upon itself the form of 
self-denial. He loved sinning, struggling men and women 
with a love stronger than death, and the offering of Himself 
upon the cross for the sins of the race was a fitting close to 
his personal ministry. Not so much the demands of law and 
justice — not so much the solution of some great problem in 
moral government — led him to tha't cross. It was love. ' 'God 
commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet 
sinners Christ died for us." Christ reveals the Father's 
heart. What he was, he still is ; what he whs, the Father is. 

5. In the last place, we may learn of God by walking in 
fellowship with him. This is a condition rather than a means. 
We can understand and interpret the divine nature more and 
more as we become more completely conformed to it, and 
this conformation gradually comes of fellowship with him. 

It is a fundamental principle that revelation is limited by 
our ability to understand. A dog may understand his 
master in a few things, and these the lowest and simplest. 



INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 29 

But suppose the master undertakes to make a full revelation 
of himself to his dog. You say it would be impossible. 
Why? Because there is not that in the dog which can 
receive such a revelation. Your child understands you in a 
measure. But suppose you undertake to reveal yourself 
fully to that child — you speak to it out of your higher 
nature, you tell of your most profound experiences, and of the 
deep spiritual yearnings of your heart — and the little child 
in your arms understands nothing of all you say. It must 
grow before it can comprehend such things. What can a 
rude savage know of the finer feelings of a Christian ? There 
is not in him that which can interpret such feelings. So we 
must grow into divine likeness and divine sympathy, if we 
would increase in our knowledge of God. There must be 
developed within us, that which can grasp his revelation of 
himself. 

Do not you who have been long in his school, feel that you 
know far more of him than you knew when you entered — 
yea, more than you could have known then? He does not 
seem just the same to me he did when I became a Christian. 
He is far more to me than he was when I entered the ministry. 
He is more personal, more precious, and nearer. But what 
must he have been to Enoch? What must he have been to 
John? And yet John did not feel that he knew him to per- 
fection. After many years of blessed experience he was 
still looking forward joyfully to the time when he should 
"see him as he is." And when that glorious vision shall 
burst upon us we will not be able to comprehend it at once. 
The central joy of Heaven will be perpetual progress in this 
delightful study. No longer through material works, and 
written words, and reflected light, but face to face, we shall 
see as we are seen, we shall know as we are known. 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disci- 
ples which are not written in this book; but these are written that 
ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God ; and that 
believing ye might have life through his name. — John xx: 30-31. 

John does not claim to have written a full and complete 
history of the life of Jesus. Many things were done by him 
in the presence of his disciples which find no place in this 
record. And while the other evangelists give us many facts 
omitted by John, yet were we to combine the four inspired 
and authorized accounts of the earth-life of our blessed 
Lord, the history thus compiled would be fragmentary and 
incomplete. John in speaking of that wonderful life has 
said, "There are also many other things which Jesus did, 
the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose 
even the world itself could not contain the books that should 
be written." Out of the many things, then, which Jesus 
said and did each one made a selection and placed it upon 
record. But what governed in making the selections ? And 
why did they select different materials? We should remem- 
ber when reading the gospels that they are not histories 
simply, but that they are primarily and avowedly argumenta- 
tive works, based upon the history of a wonderful life. Each 
writer was constructing an argument, and whatever best 
suited this purpose was placed in his book= Two reasons, 
very apparent, will account for the variety in their selections. 
First of all, the differences between the persons for whom 
they wrote. Evidently the facts best suited to carry con- 
viction to the Jew would not always be the most effective 
(30) 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 31 

with the Gentile.' As their readers differed, in character 
and condition, so should the material out of which their argu- 
ments were constructed. Then, too, the writers differed, 
each from the others, in their mental organizations. Inspira- 
tion, whatever that may have been, did not destroy one's 
individuality. John, inspired, was none the less John, for 
in his inspired writings we may sae some characteristics pecu- 
liar to him. And so of all the others. Their personality 
was not destroyed by their inspiration. The differences in 
both the readers and ihe writers then will account for the dif- 
ference in the material selected. Their purpose, however, 
appears to have been substantially the same. Each one 
wrote that men might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the 
Son of God. In examining the text it seems best to notice 
these points : — 

I. The proposition submitted. 
II. The proof offered. 
III. The importance of the fact thus demonstrated. 

I. The proposition submitted. I desire to unfold in a 
simple manner the meaning of the statement that Jesus is the 
Christ, the Son of God. Jesus was his proper name, divinely 
given ; Christ, a significant title. In many places when we 
read Jesus Christ it should undoubtedly read Jesus the 
Christ. The distinction is important. Let me illustrate. 
George King is a man's name. George, the King, is much 
more. It indicates that he holds the position of ruler over 
a kingdom, and in that we say the king we indicate that he 
is king over some particular people or nation already men- 
tioned, or that he is above other kings — pre-eminent. So 
when we say that Jesus is the Christ, we mean that he is the 
anointed, and in that we say that he is the Christ we indicate 
that he is pre-eminent over all anointed — for Christ means 
simply anointed. Now, among the chosen people, the Jews, 



32 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 



three classes of officers were installed by holy anointing — 
prophets, priests, and kings. You remember that God sent 
the prophet Elijah to anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat, to 
be prophet in his room. (I Kings xix: 16.) In referring 
to such anointing the Psalmist, speaking in the name of 
God, says, " Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets 
no harm." (Ps. cv: 15.) Prophets are here called God's 
anointed. In Exodus xl: 13-15, we have an account of 
the anointing of Aaron and his sons as priests. Afterwards, 
however, anointing seems not to have been repeated at the 
consecration of ordinary priests, but to have been specially 
reserved for the high-priest. (Ex. xxix: 29 ; Lev. xvi: 32.) 
So that "the priest that is anointed" (Lev. iv: 3), is 
generally thought to mean the high-priest. The high-priest 
differed chiefly from the ordinary priest in that he only was 
permitted to enter the holy of holies in the sacred temple. 
Kings were also anointed. You remember of Samuel's 
anointing Saul, and many years after that of his anointing 
David the son of Jesse to reign in his stead. The theocratic 
king is often called ' ' the Lord's anointed. ' ' Anointing with 
oil was a rite of inauguration into each of the three typical 
offices of the Jewish commonwealth, whose tenants, as 
anointed, were types of the Anointed One. 

When it is said that Jesus is the Christ we are to under- 
stand that he is the anointed, standing above all other 
anointed. Of him they were only types. He is the three- 
fold anointed — the anointed prophet, the anointed priest, 
the anointed king. In this he meets the three-fold wants of 
man — ignorant, guilty, and enslaved. Prophet, to instruct 
us ; high-priest, to cleanse us and intercede for us ; king, to 
emancipate us, rule over us and lead us to victory. There 
is also something exclusive in his pre-eminence. He sup- 
plants all others. We are to listen to no other prophet; we 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 33 

are to apply to no other priest ; we are to obey no other 
king, for Jesus only is the Christ. How much then is em- 
braced in this proposition ! 

But this is not all. It gathers within itself the fulfilment 
of the brightest chain of Jewish prophecies. The Jews 
shared with the heathen the hope of the golden age. But in 
the Jew it was strengthened and defined by their prophets, 
and centred in the person and ministry of the Messiah. Far 
back in the dim light of the beginning, it shone like the star of 
the morning, even in the darkness of the curse. ' i The seed 
of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. ' ' The promise 
grew brighter and clearer as it was repeated to Shem, to 
Abraham and to the patriarchs. "The sceptre shall not 
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet 
until Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the gathering of the 
people be." (Gen. xlix: 10.) And again, "I shall see 
him, but not now ; I shall behold bim, but not nigh ; there 
shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out 
of Israel." (Num. xxiv: 17.) Moses foretold his coming, 
saying, ' 'A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto 
you of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear in all 
things whatsoever he shall say unto you." (Acts iii : 22, 
Deut. xviii: 18.) When we come on down to the Psalms 
and the prophets the light is fuller and clearer. In the 
Messianic psalms, and especially in Isaiah, the evangelistic 
prophet, the character and mission of the Messiah are set 
forth with a minuteness, a pathos, and a wealth of imagery 
most wonderful and attractive. 

Remember that Messiah and Christ are the same — that 
one word comes from the Hebrew and the other from the 
Greek — and you will see that to say that Jesus is the Christ, 
is to claim that these rays of Jewish prophec}^ concerning the 
Messiah, all centre in Jesus of Xazareth. Perhaps it is not 

3 



34: THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHTISTIAN SYSTEM. 

enough that I say that Messiah and Christ are synonymous. 
One passage can make that certain, "Andrew first findeth his 
own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the 
Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ." (John 
i: 41.) How full of meaning, then, is this proposition? It 
bears the full import of all the sacred anointings of prophets, 
priests and kings, and claims a fulfilment of the brightest 
prophecies of the Jewish people. Those golden threads of 
prophecy which came streaming down through the ages, giv- 
ing hope to the chosen nation, brightening their days of 
darkness, and inspiring their sacred songs, all centred on 
the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who with his own hands 
wove them into a chaplet of divine glory, and in the presence 
of the people crowned himself the long-expected Messiah — 
the anointed of the Most High. 

Nor is this all. The proposition in the text is two-fold. 
Not only is Jesus the Christ, but he is the Son of God. The 
first part affirms his Messiahship. The second part affirms 
his divine Sonship. It is not here said that he is a son in 
some restricted sense, but that, in the fullest, highest sense, 
he is the Son of God. But did not the Jews expect the Mes- 
siah to be thus divine? And, consequently, does not his 
Messiahship necessarily include his divine Sonship? Cer- 
tainly they ought to have so understood their prophecies, 
his divinny is clearly stated. Isaiah said his name should 
be "The Mighty God" (ix: 6), and he should be. called 
"Immanuel" (vii: 14), which means, God with us. Again, 
in the forty-fifth psalm he is addressed thus, " Thy Throne, 
O God, is forever and ever." Surely from such expressions 
they ought to have known that the Christ would be divine. 
But the question is not what they ought to have believed, but 
what they actually did believe. His humiliation, and his death 
upon the cross were as clearly foretold as was his divine 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 35 

nature, and we know that the cross was, to the Jew, a stum- 
bling-block. (I Cor. i : 23. ) The literature of the first Chris- 
tian centuries, when there were frequent discussions between 
the Christians and the Jews, shows clearly that while a few 
might have believed that the Christ would be divine, the 
popular opinion was that he would be simply human. Of 
this there are clear indications in the gospels themselves. 
For instance, Luke says, " All men mused in their hearts of 
John (the Baptist) whether he were the Christ or not.' 
(Lukeiii: 15.) They knew John's parents, and they knew 
that he was only human. They could not, therefore, have 
thought that the promised Christ would certainly be divine. 
Again is this clearly shown when Jesus asked the Pharisees, 
"What think ye of the Christ? (That is, the Christ of 
Prophecy. ) Whose son is he ? " They did not answer : The 
son of God, but said, the son of David. And when he 
asked, "How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, say- 
ing, the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 
till I make thine enemies thy footstool ? If David then called 
him Lord, how is he his son?" (Matt, xxii: 42-45.) No 
man was able to answer him, for no one there thought that 
the Christ would be the divine Son. Thus the plainest pre- 
dictions of their prophets were not understood. The divine 
Sonship of the Messiah was not received by the people. It 
was because he claimed to be the Son of God that they 
rejected him, and finally put him to death. They would 
have received him, perhaps, had he claimed to be nothing 
more than the Messiah. But he claimed both, and the pro- 
position of the text includes both, in the fullness of their 
meaning. Simple, sublime, aud comprehensive then is the 
proposition of the text — Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
God. It claims for the poor Nazarine that he is the only 
prophet, the only priest, the only king anointed over the true 



3() THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM; 

Israel of God. He alone is divinely authorized to instruct 
us in our ignorance, to cleanse us of our sins, to intercede 
for us, to rule over us and to lead us to victory. He is the 
only begotten Son of God. He is the first and the last, the 
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the mighty 
God, the Prince of Peace. Coming with such high claims 
we may, yea we must ask, " What sign sho west thou?" 
What evidence does he present? What proof is offered in 
support of this proposition ? 

II. The proof submitted. John offers the " signs " which 
Jesus did. " Many other signs truly did Jesus in the pres- 
ence of his disciples which are not written in this book, but 
these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, 
the Son of God." By this he claims that Jesus bore with 
him his own credentials. I will not attempt to elaborate the 
proof thus submitted, but will endeavor to show its nature 
and its application to the proposition. 

By signs we are certainly to understand him to. mean the 
miracles which Jesus did. Miracles are often called signs. 
In many places where our version has the word miracle the 
original has the word sign. This name presents the religious 
end and purpose of miracles. They are the indication of 
God's presence and approval. They are typical also. I 
believe that the miracles of the New Testament are all, in a 
sense, typical of the higher work of the Christ — that they 
were not performed simply for the benefit of the sufferers 
who were by them relieved of their sufferings, nor yet sim- 
ply to attract the people, but that they point to Jesus as the 
physician of the soul. Coming into this world to seek and 
to save the lost, he should demonstrate his power over all 
the consequences of sin. Without such demonstrations how 
could he reasonably ask men to commit their highest inter- 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 87 

ests to him? These signs appear to me to be a complete 
demonstration. 

Let us see. The consequences of sin are both internal 
and external — both spiritual and physical. The soul within 
is tempest-tossed by sin. Darkness and chaos are there. 
What could be a more striking type of this internal wreck 
than were the demoniacs in the days of Jesus. Reason 
seemed to have deserted its throne. The poor demented 
sufferer raved like a hopeless maniac. He fled from home 
and sought an abode among the tombs. He tore off his rai- 
ment. He could not be bound. His eye had a wild, fren- 
zied look. All these were signs of the wreck and ruin 
wrought within by sin. The demoniac was a type. Can 
Jesus heal him? Can he ca?t the evil spirit out? Can he 
restore him to his right mind? Can he still the raging tem- 
pest within? Let us read some of the testimony of the 
evangelists. 

In the first chapter of Mark, I read this : — 

"And there was in their synagogue (at Capernaum) a man 
with an unclean spirit ; and he cried out saying : Let us 
alone ; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Naza- 
reth? Art thou come to destroy us? (He knew that Jesus 
had power.) I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of 
G-od. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace and 
come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn 
him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And 
they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among 
themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine 
is this? for with authority he commandeth the unclean 
spirits, and they do obey him." 

Turn to the fifth chapter and read the account of his heal- 
ing the demoniacs in the country of the Gadarenes. 



38 THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 

' 'And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into 
the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out 
of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a 
man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the 
tombs ; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains ; 
because that he had been bound with fetters and chains, and 
the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters 
broken in pieces ; neither could any man tame him. And 
alwaj^s, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the 
tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when 
he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried 
with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, 
Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by 
God, that thou torment me not. (For he said unto him, 
Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. ) And he asked him, 
What is thy name? And he answered, saying, my name is 
Legion ; for we are many. And he besought him much that he 
would not send them away out of the country. Now there was 
there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 
And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the 
swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus 
gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out and en- 
tered into the swine ; and the herd ran violently down a steep 
place into the sea (they were about two thousand), and 
were choked in the sea. And they that fed the swine fled, 
and told it in the city, and in the countiy. And they went 
out to see what it was that was done. And they come to 
Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and 
had the legion, sitting, and clothed in his right mind ; and 
they were afraid." 

Thus he demonstrates his power to remove the internal 
effects of sin. Is this not a sufficient demonstration ? But, 
what are its external effects ? All manner of disease and death 



, 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 39 

itself. Has lie shown his power? See him heal the noble- 
man's son (John iv: 46-54) ; the poor paralytic (Matt, ix: 
1-8) ; the man who was leprous from head to foot (Luke v: 
12-16) ; the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda (John \ : 
1-16) ; the man with dropsy (Luke xiv: 1-6) ; the man with 
a withered hand (Matt, xii: 9-13) ; and all those who came 
to him with their diseases. He demonstrated his power over 
disease in its many forms. More than this, he demonstrated 
his power over death itself. See him in the house of Jairus 
calling his daughter back to life. (Matt, ix: 18-26). See 
him, when he meets the procession bearing to the grave the 
remains of the only son of a widow, draw near and touch 
the bier, saying, "Young man, arise." The dead obeyed 
him. (Luke vii: 11-16.) And see him, again, when he 
stood by the grave of the four-days dead and cried with a 
loud voice, " Lazarus, come forth," and at that quickening 
call he came forth, still wearing the raiment of the dead. 
How full, and even overwhelming is the demonstration ! In 
the chamber of Jairus where the death angel still lingered ; 
by the bier of the dead as they carried him to the grave ; 
and by the grave of the four-days dead, he manifests his 
power over death. His miracles were signs of his higher 
work and pledges of his power to accomplish it. He has 
power over the consequences of sin, both internal and exter- 
nal. 

But what is the relation between his miracle and his doc- 
trine ? I answer that his doctrine rests upon his authorit}-, 
and his miracles demonstrate his authority. There is danger 
of our forgetting the important fact that his doctrine rests 
upon his authority. He did not attempt to prove his doc- 
trine. Neither did he argue from his doctrine to his author- 
ity, but from his authority to his doctrine. The doctrine 
rests upon that. How, then, do Iris miracles show him to be 



40 THE CEXTHAI, FACT IX THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 

the Christ, the Son of God, and hence supreme in authority? 
Miracles in themselves, separate and apart from what he de- 
clared himself to be, can prove nothing. We must connect 
them with what he claimed for himself. I put the matter 
briefly thus: Miracles show God's presence and approval. 
What the worker claims in working the miracles is, there- 
fore, approved of God. But Jesus claimed that he was the 
Christ, the Son of God, and wrought miracles in support of 
this claim. Hence, this claim was approved of God. 
Again, he performed the works which demonstrate his power 
to accomplish the higher purpose of his mission. Thus, as 
it were, by the signet of the Almighty he stamps with au- 
thority his claims to the Jewish Messiahship and Divine 
Sonship, and by his wonderful works demonstrates before 
men his ability to save the lost. 

But why did John write to establish this proposition? 
Why did Jesus perform a series of miracles to demon- 
strate that he was the Christ, the Son of God? What is its 
importance ? 

III. The importance of the proposition thus demonstrated. 
Twice during the personal ministry of Jesus did the 
Father speak audibly in the hearing of the people — at his 
baptism in the Jordan and at his transfiguration on the sum- 
mit of the mountain. On each occasion he declared that 
Jesus was his Son, in whom he was well pleased, and that it 
was man's duty to hear him. Seldom in the history of the 
race has God condescended to speak in person to man. We 
may, therefore, reasonably infer that what he says on such 
occasions is of no ordinary importance. From tne fact that 
God himself announced it; from the fact that Jesus per- 
formed a series of miracles to demonstrate it ; and from the 
fact that the gospels were written that man might believe it, 
we are forced to conclude that the proposition that Jesus is 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 41 

the Christ, the Son of God, is of the very highest impor- 
tance. A few considerations will strengthen and justify 
this conviction. 

First. It is the central fact in the Christian system. Every 
system must have a centre. This is true whether the system 
is spiritual or physical, moral or political. The planet on 
which we live is part of a system of planets revolving 
around one central sun. From that sun they receive light 
and life. The system of religion established by the false 
prophet has this for its centre : There is one true and living 
God ; Mahommed is his prophet. Everything depends upon 
that. Accept that and you. accept all. In the Jewish reli- 
gion the doctrine of the unity of the deity, in opposition to 
every form of polytheism, is the central doctrine. There is 
one, true, and living God, and Moses is his lawgiver, 
is that on which all else depends. Accept that and 
you must accept everything which belongs to that sys- 
tem. So in the Christian system, the proposition that Jesus 
is the Christ, the Son of God, is the grand central fact. 
Everything depends upon that. Accept it and you must ac- 
cept everything he taught. For this reason the inspired 
teachers presented it as the problem of the gospel. They 
brought every argument to its support. Every doctrine, 
every command, every promise rests upon that as its basis. 
To support this is to support the divine claims of the entire 
Bible. For he stands, as it were, between the Old Testa- 
ment and the New, and extending one hand back over the 
Old, he indorses that as divine. It is, therefore, divine. 
Extending the other down over the New he indorses that as 
divine. It is, therefore, divine. As in geometry, every 
proposition lies latent in the definition of the figure, so in 
Christianity everything lies latent in this proposition con- 
cerning the Christ. And as one may stand on different 



42 THE CENTRAL PACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 

planets in our solar sj^stem, and each in its revolution points 
to the same centre, so may we take different standpoints and 
different views of the divine scheme of human redemption, 
yet from each point we are directed to the same central 
fact, the Messiahsbip and divine Sonship of Jesus of 
Nazareth. Do you look upon it as a system of doctrine ? 
Eveiy doctrine hinges upon this. Do you look upon it as a 
system of commandments? Ever} 7 commandment in the 
system rests upon the authority of Jesus, and this 
proposition as a declaration of that authority. Do 
you view it as a system of blessed promises? All the 
promises of God are in him. Whatever, then, may be the 
point from which you view the system you are uniformly 
pointed to the Messiahship and divine Sonship of Jesus as 
the centre. It is the sun of the sj^stem, and the citadel of 
revealed truth. 

Second. It is the foundation fact in the church of Christ. 
When Jesus was on his way to Cesarea Philippi he asked his 
disciples, *' Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? " 
And they said, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist, 
some Elias, and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." 
Then he asked them. "But whom say ye that I am ? ' ? And, 
Simon Peter answered and said, " Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God." Then Jesus answered and said unto 
him, " Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood 
hath not revealed it unto thee, but ray Father who is in 
heaven. And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock 1 will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it. ' ' (Matt, xvi : 16^1 8. ) I know that this 
passage has been the battle ground of fierce conflicts. What 
is here meant by the rock? Does it mean Christ, or Peter, 
or the truth which Peter confessed? The whole matter may 
be presented thus : ' ' The leading image of these and the 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 43 

following verses is that of two opposing cities, one repre- 
senting the kingdom of heaven, and the other representing 
hades. The former is represented as about to be built on a 
rock. Its builder, its gate-keeper, and its keys are men- 
tioned, and the assurance is given that the gates of the lat- 
ter city shall not prevail against it. Of the former city 
Jesus is the builder ; Peter is the gate-keeper, for to him the 
keys are given ; and the foundation on which its walls are to 
be erected, like that of Cesarea Philippi, which was close at 
hand, and in all probability supplied the imagery, is a solid 
rock." To suppose that either Jesus or Peter, in person, is 
to be the foundation would throw the whole imagery into 
confusion, for Jesus specifically sa} T s that he is the chief 
architect, and he gives the keys to Peter. Interpreting the 
language according to its imagery, there seems to be no 
room to doubt that the truth which Peter confessed is the 
solid rock on which the Church of Christ is built. Destroy 
this foundation, and the church falls into ruin. Preserve it, 
and the church may stand against every foe. I care not 
what may be the pretensions of any organization, if it is not 
built upon this, it cannot be the Church of Christ, for he 
has said, "Upon this rock I will build my church." The 
true church rests upon nothing else, however true it may be. 
It rests upon no peculiar view of ordinances ; no peculiar 
view of the operation of the Holy Spirit ; no peculiar view of 
the doctrine of the divine decrees ; no peculiar view of the 
fall of man and the depravity of human nature ; no peculiar 
view of ecclesiastical polity, but it rests, like the city built 
upon the solid rock, upon the fact that Jesus is the Christ, 
the Son of the living God. This is the foundation fact. 

Third. It is the saving fact in the gospel of our blessed 
Savior. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is 
born of G-od." (I. John v: 1.) I believe that most com- 



44 THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 

mentators agree that " begotten of God," is much'nearerthe 
meaning here than "born of God." So, at least, teach 
Barnes, Maeknight, and others whom [ have examined. 
This is not a meaningless distinction, but I cannot notice its 
importance now. What I wish you to notice now is that the 
belief of this central and foundation fact is saving faith. 
By this belief we are begotten of God. Is it necessary for 
me to say that I am not speaking of a cold, heartless assent 
to it? A belief of it which has no more effect on the heart 
than to believe that the sum of the angles of a triangle are 
equal to two right angles? Remember that it is written, 
" with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." (Rom. 
x: 10.) I do not teach that a belief which touches not the 
heart can save the soul. Neither do my brethren teach any 
such doctrine. I believe in and try to teach the necessity of 
a heart-faith in Christ. I believe in heart religion. I ask 
for a faith which works by love, and purifies the heart. 

Let us turn more directly to the statement of the text : 
" These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus 
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might 
have life through his name." Some important truths lie 
upon the surface of this statement. First of all, that saving 
faith rests upon testimony. John wrote that men might 
believe. He presented testimony to produce faith. In the 
next place it is necessarily implied that the testimony is 
sufficient to produce faith. " These things are written that 
ye might believe." In the third place it is assumed that 
men have power to believe when the testimony is presented. 
In the fourth place, the proposition to be believed is that 
"Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." And in the last 
place, this belief is the faith by ivhich men have life through 
the name of Jesus. There are many other things equally 
true, but they are not the channels by which life comes to 



THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 45 

men. How simple and yet how comprehensive is this faith. 
How important, beyond all computation, is the proposition. 
Who can estimate its value ? It is the central fact in the 
Christian system; the foundation fact in the Church of 
Christ ; the saving fact in the gospel of our blessed Savior. 

We need not wonder then that the apostles of Christ and 
the inspired teachers of the church uniformly presented it as 
the problem of the gospel. We need not wonder that they 
brought argument from every possible source to establish it 
firmly in the minds and hearts of men. When Paul began 
the work of the ministry in the cityof Damascus the burden 
of his preaching was to prove that Jesus was the very Christ. 
(Acts ix:22.) In the synagogue in Thessalonica, "he 
reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleg- 
ing, that the Christ must needs have suffered, and risen 
again from the dead ; and that this Jesus whom I preach 
unto you, is Christ." (Actsxvii:2, 3.) The apostles in 
Jerusalem ' ' daily in the temple and in every house ceased 
not to teach and preach Jesus the Christ." (Acts v: 42.) 
Paul, pressed in spirit, testified to the Jews in Corinth that 
Jesus was the Christ. (Acts xviii: 5.) When Appollos 
went into Achaia " he mightily convinced the Jews, and that 
publicly, that Jesus was the Christ." (Acts xviii: 28 ) 
And so, wherever they preached, the force of their arguments 
was brought to bear in support of this. 

Again, we may now more clearly understand why this was 
made the confession of faith in the early churches. Before 
one was baptized he was required to confess with his mouth 
the faith of his heart in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. 
We can see with what propriety it is called The Good Con- 
fession. (I. Tim. vi: 13.) It bears with it so many sacred 
memories. The angels sang in the song of good will to men, 
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a 



46 THE CENTRAL FACT IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 

Savior, which is Christ, the Lord." (Luke ii: 11.) God, 
the Father, announced it at the Jordan when, pointing by the 
descending Spirit to Jesus, he said, "This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt, iii: 18.) And 
again, on the Mount of Transfiguration he spake from out 
the brightness of the cloud, saying, " This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him." (Matt, 
xvii: 5.) Jesus ■ himself before Pontius Pilate witnessed 
this good confession. (I. Tim. vi : 13. ) Moreover, it is the 
good confession because in making it we publicly declare in 
in favor of Jesus. And ^finally, it is the good confession 
because it is unto salvation. " With the heart man believeth 
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made 
unto salvation." 



THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom 
the god of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe 
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image 
of God should shine unto them. — ii Cor. iv : 3-4. 

' If you desire to select from this text some clause which 
presents its salient point, and is so brief that you can easily 
remember it, I suggest that you take this, "The glorious 
gospel of Christ." 

Have you never observed how we often fancy we under- 
stand things simply because we are familiar with them? 
Familiarity is so easily mistaken for knowledge. I have a 
little book called " Catechism of Common Things," which 
has brought this matter to my mind repeatedly. I have 
been surprised to find how little I really know concerning the 
most familiar articles about my home. The very fact of my 
perfect familiarity has prevented my pausing to ask ques- 
tions. I felt as if I knew all about them. The same is true 
of words. We become familiar with them — we have a gen- 
eral understanding of their meaning — and do not pause to 
ask for exact definitions. The word " gospel," I think, be- 
longs to this class. We are familiar with it. We see it so 
frequently, it is upon our tongues more than almost any 
other one word, and we take for granted, that we know ex- 
actly what its fall significance is. Perhaps, we may. But 
even if we do, it will be no waste of time to linger over its 
meaning awhile. » 

I will endeavor, therefore, to answer two questions to- 
night. First, What is the gospel? and second, Why call it 
glorious? 

(47) 



48 THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 

I. Wliat, then, is the gospel? Quite a prevalent idea 
seems to be that the word stands for religious truth in gen- 
eral. A sermon is preached. Some one who heard it says, 
as he leaves the house, '-Well, that man preached the gos- 
pel, to-night," meaning by the remark no more than that 
what was preached was true — that it was religious truth. 

I need scarcely remind you that the literal meaning of the 
word is good news or glad tidings. The word used in the 
inspired volume is composed of two words, one meaning 
good or glad, and the other meaning news or tidings, so that 
etymologically it means simply good news or glad tidings. 
Any message, therefore, which contains good news may be 
called gospel. The message which the Divine Father has 
sent to his sinful, wandering children through his Son is 
called the gospel of Christ, because it is full of love and for- 
giveness, and is radiant with the brightness of hope. The 
angelic announcement of his birth was gospel, for it was glad 
tidings of great joy to all the people because a Savior was 
born. 

But the good news of a Savior born — of a Eedeemer sent 
to redeem us — is not the full gospel. The word is used to 
designate the place or method by which w T e are to be saved. 
The term is a name for the entire system of salvation 
through Jesus Christ. This system has its different elements. 

In the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, Paul, after 
saying he had preached the gospel to them in that city, pro- 
ceeds to state in a summary way what he had preached, say- 
ing, " For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also 
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the 
Scriptures ; and that he was buried, and that he rose again 
the third day according to the Scriptures." Here are cer- 
tain great facts concerning Christ — his atoning death, his 
burial, and his resurrection. These are fundamental. Yet 



THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 49 

these facts, important as they are, do not constitute the full 
and complete gospel. It was not his purpose to make a 
statement of the entire gospel in this place. He mentions 
fundamental facts, but there is more in this gospel than its 
wonderful facts. For we read of the obedience of the gos- 
pel, and facts cannot be obeyed. In order to obedience 
there must be commands. This gospel must, therefore, con- 
tain certain commands. But facts and commands are not 
all, for we read of the hope of the gospel, and hope rests 
upon promises. If there is no promise there is no ground 
for hope. The gospel must, therefore, contain promises. 
These, then, are the essential parts of the gospel of Christ, — 
facts, commands, promises. 

The order in which I have named them is their logical, 
scriptural order. First, facts ; second, commands ; third, 
promises. And our relation to each of these is different. 
Facts are to be believed, commands are to be obeyed, 
promises are to be enjoyed. The order of the process in us 
also corresponds to the order of the parts of the gospel. 
First, faith; then, obedience; then, rejoicing. Much of the 
confusion which manifestly exists concerning this matter, so 
simple in itself, is to be attributed either to the fact that 
this order is not observed, or that a part only is presented 
for the whole. Were I to undertake to produce Christian 
joy without first producing faith and obedience — that upon 
which the joy legitimately rests — I would produce con- 
fusion. Or were I to preach the exceeding great and 
precious promises, without showing how enquirers are to 
appropriate these, I need not be surprised to find that I have 
bewildered those whom I should have guided along a plain 
way. How simple was the gospel as preached at first, and 
how easily understood! How great the mystery which 
enshrouds that which in our day is sometimes preached ! 

i 



50 THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 

II. But why call this gospel, so simple in itself, the glorious 
gospel ? It is spoken of in the text as full of light and as 
shining forth with the radiance of heavenly glory. It is 
called the glorious gospel. 

1. I answer, in the first place, that we may call it glorious 
because it is the fullest manifestation of the glory of the divine 
character ever made to man. The phrase is, literally, " The 
gospel of the glory of Christ." But Christ is spoken of in 
the clause which immediately follows, as the image of God. 
This glory, therefore, does not belong to the Son alone. It 
is the glory of the entire godhead. While it is the gospel of 
Christ, it is, at the same time " the gospel of the grace of 
God. ' ' It is the ' ' gospel of our salvation, ' ' and the godhead 
in its fullness is engaged in the accomplishment of this 
salvation. The Father so loved the world that he gave his 
Son, the Son, by his death upon the cross, made atonement 
for sin, and the Holy Spirit came as his advocate and our 
comforter. Without attempting to draw accurate distinc- 
tions as to the three persons in the Trinity, and without 
pausing to indicate the part each performs in the work of 
human redemption, I may say that the entire divine nature is 
manifested by the gospel. In its revelation of the divine 
character I find its glory. It is so full of God that it shines 
with unearthly splendor. He is the light of it. 

I will not ignore the fact that God is revealed to us by 
other means nor seek to magnify the importance of the 
gospel as though it were the only revelation of his being and 
character. To me all nature beams with his brightress. 
Were the sun perfectly hid from my eyes by an intervening 
cloud, concealing his body without obscuring his beams, I 
would still know there is a sun, for the cloud that hides him 
is full of his light. Even so creation is radiant with the 
light of God. He shines through all his works. Intelli- 



THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 51 

genee, will, forethought, power, and providence are clearly 
seen. 

Then, too, the earlier pages of this great volume of revela- 
tion glow with the brightness of God. The law, the proph- 
ets, and the psalms contain disclosures of his attributes and 
shine with their revelations of his character and his gracious 
purposes. His unit}', his holiness, his justice, his personal 
providence, his designs of grace, brighten the pages of the 
Old Testament Scriptures. What revelations of glory in the 
purity of the law, in the devotion of the inspired psalms and 
in the lofty utterances of the prophets when visions of the 
high and holy One were granted them ! The living oracles, 
even as the}' were given to the Jews, are full of the divine 
glory. 

But the manifestation of God to man has been progressive. 
As the sun does not burst upon us with the suddenness of 
the lightning's flash in the fullness of his glory, but slowly 
uplifts the curtain of night and gilds with his beams the 
window of day, and brighter grows and brighter until we are 
flooded with light, so has God slowly and by degrees revealed 
himself to man. All that go before are but morning 
beams — harbingers of the day — but the gospel shines full- 
orbed. It is the fullest revelation of the divine character 
yet given to us, and in this is its glory. Mercy, grace, for- 
givenesss, love, fatherhood — in short — the great heait of 
God is therein made manifest to men. 

2. In the second place, it is glorious from the character of 
its message. Not only is it good news, but it is the very best 
news which could come to sin-smitten, bewildered, lost hu- 
manity. As God's gracious purposes were being unfolded 
in types and symbolic ritual, we are told that angels looked 
on with eager gaze. These purposes were enshrouded in 
mystery. But when the time drew near for types to meet 



52 THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 

with their fulfilment, and angel messengers were dispatched 
to tell to the waiting shepherds the advent of a Savior-king, 
a multitude of the heavenly host heard the message and 
broke forth in an ecstasy of song, saying, ' ; Glory to God 
in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men/' 
The Prince of Peace comes with a message of peace. He might 
have come with the voice of the thunder to pronounce the 
sentence of death. He did not. The angels saw in his ad- 
vent a new manifestation of good will toward man. The 
gospel message is glorious because it is full of grace and 
good-will. 

If you will turn to the fourth chapter of Luke, you will 
find Jesus interpreting the general character of his message 
and work. It is in the village of Nazareth, where he had 
been brought up and where all the people knew him. It is 
the Sabbath day. His wisdom and purity have already 
attracted the notice of the people. But the circumstances 
attending his recent baptism were so remarkable that they 
were even now widely known, and expectation was kindled 
to feverish eagerness. His seclusion during the period of 
his temptation has increased rather than alla} r ed this feeling. 
And now it is rumored that he is coming back to the home 
of his childhood. The S3'nagogue is crowded. He enters, 
and all eyes turn toward him as the minister hands him a 
roll containing a part of their sacred writings. He opens 
the book, finds the place where it was written : — 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath 
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent 
me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind ; to set at 
liberty them that are bruised : to preach the acceptable } r ear 
of the Lord. 

He closes the book, and he gives it again to the minister, 



THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 53 

and sits down. And the eyes of all were fastened upon 
him ; and he said to them : this day is this scripture fulfilled 
in yOur ears. He applied this prediction directly to himself, 
and so gives us an interpretation of the character of his 
message and work. Good news to the poor; healing for 
broken hearts ; freedom for captives ; sight for the blind ; 
liberty for the oppressed; a jubilee for all! He comes to 
meet the deep wants of our race. 

Time would fail me to speak of the fullness of the bless- 
ing of this gospel of Christ. Like the poor man of whom 
we read in the ninth chapter of John, born blind and vainly 
seeking a guide, the gospel comes and, with holy anointing, 
opens our eyes. Bruised and wounded, it is for us a balm 
full of healing and fragrance. Covered with a pollution 
"more loathsome than leprosy, it cleanses, restores and sanc- 
tifies. Bound in sin with the fearful bondage of Satan, our 
condition is sadder than that of the poor, wild demoniac of 
Gadara, until the gospel gives us freedom and restores us to 
our right mind, and clothes us with the beautiful robes of 
righteousness. We are alienated from God, but the gentle, 
pleading voice of this gospel wins us back. It is the mes- 
sage of reconciliation. We are condemned. It comes 
offering pardon, full and free. We are as orphans. This is 
God's message, in which he declares his willing- 
ness to adopt us as his children. Through fear 
of death we are subject to bondages until Christ 
brings life and immortality to light in the gos- 
pel. The nature of this message — the fullness of its bless- 
ing — makes it unspeakably glorious in our eyes. It meets 
and satisfies the deepest wants of our nature. 

3. In the third place, this glory appears full-orbed, when 
we reflect that it is both designed for all and adapted to all. 
I believe that the purpose of the gospel is as wide as the 



54 THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 

race, that it is God's gospel for the whole world. I cannot 
believe that its gracious provisions are for only a select few. 
The gospel shines as the sun, everywhere and without par- 
tiality. For the sun shines not only upon your meadows, and 
gardens, and vineyards, but upon those of others as well. 
Yea, he sends out his beams of light and heat every whither, 
over forests, and deserts, and fertile fields, and the wide 
waste of waters — everywhere. You cannot fence in his 
rays and claim them as your peculiar and exclusive pos- 
session. No more can you limit the gospel. You ma}' 
urge your doctrine of election and decrees, you may teach 
that this message of grace is for only a select and limited 
few, and yet it shines on full-orbed, for its Creator made 
it so. 

The angels said, " glad tiding of great joy for all the peo- 
ple. ' ' They were not Calvinistic angels. Jesus said, in giv- 
ing the commission, " Go preach the gospel to every 
creature." And, as if to give peculiar emphasis to the abso- 
lute universality of its purpose and provisions, he taught the 
apostles to begin their work in Jerusalem. There, where he 
had been buffeted, where he had been mocked and spit upon, 
where his betrayers and murderers were, — there, in the city 
of Jerusalem, begin your work, that all the world may know 
the riches of my grace. Then go everywhere and tell this 
story of redeeming love to every creature. Wonderful as 
the gospel is in the fullness of its blessing, it is intended for 
every one. Its glory is not eclipsed by the shadow of pre- 
destination and fore-ordination of any to everlasting death. 
God takes no pleasure in the death of any, and so has made 
provision for all. 

Moreover, this that is intended for all, is suited to all. 
The gospel is glorious in its simplicity. The evangelical 
prophet, in foretelling the highwaj' of holiness, described it 



THE GL0RI0U3 GOSPEL. 55 

as so plain that the unwise and simpletons need not err 
therein. The gospel is not a profound science, to be under- 
stood only by the gifted who have leisure for study, nor is it 
an abstract philosoplry suited to a certain class of thinkers, 
but — blessed be God that it is so — it is a simple message 
of love and salvation suited to the masses. Its facts are few 
and easy to be understood ; its commands are plain and sim- 
ple ; its promises, though exceeding great and precious, lie 
within the range of easy comprehension. The simplicity of 
the gospel is demonstrated by the fact that among its first 
converts there were " not many wise men after the fle^h, not 
many mighty, not many noble." ' In the history of apostolic 
preaching we find, in many instances, the people needed to 
hear only one sermon in order to understand it, believe it, 
obey it, and rejoice in its blessings and its promises. It is 
glorious in the wide sweep of its grace ; it is glorious in its 
beautiful simplicity. 

4. But, in the fourth place, it is glorious in its results. As 
seed sown brings forth grain after its kind, so the gospel 
brings forth in men results peculiar to itself. It tamed the 
fiery spirit of the sons of thunder, and made of the bloody 
persecutor a gentle and devoted lover of his fellow-man. 
It purifies the corrupt, lifts up the degraded, comforts the sor- 
rowing and reforms the abandoned. It brings light to those 
who sit in darkness, and sanctifies and soothes the grief of 
the bereaved. It is a feast to the hungry, a fountain to the 
thirsty. It gives us songs in the house of our pilgrimage 
and in the night of our sorrow It inspires and nurses all 
the gentler virtues. It begets charity. It fills human hearts 
with the sweet melody of love. It purifies home and makes 
it fragrant. It builds asylums, founds hospitals, and fur- 
nishes shelter for the fallen that they may reform. Under 
its "gentle rays all goodness, all moral beauty, all true 



56 



THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 



nobility, all. virtues are developed. As well attempt to 
tell of all the sun does for us in his shining, as to tell the 
fullness of the glorious results of the gospel. Every flower 
that blooms is a child of the sun. So every flower that 
blooms in a human heart and makes fragrant human life is 
born of the gospel. 

Were we to permit a wider range to our inquiry, we would 
enrich and enlarge our conception of the blessed fruit of gospel 
truth. It has directed the course of nations. It has silently 
undermined despotism and overturned the throne of tyr- 
anny. It has f ostered the spirit of liberty and given free- 
dom to the slave. If we examine the map of the world 
to-day, we will find that those nations which enjoy the high- 
est civilization are those which have imbibed most freely the 
spirit and teaching of the gospel. 

But we would err were we to suppose this gospel has al- 
ready borne its full harvest. The precious results already 
attained are scarce worthy to be called even the first fruits 
of the golden harvest yet to be gathered. If we are not 
grievously mistaken in the utterances of prophets, a brighter 
day is yet to dawn. The wilderness and the solitary place 
shall be glad, and the desert shall blossom as the rose. 
Swords shall be made into ploughshares, and spears into 
scythes ; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
shall they learn war any more. The prospect is glorious, 
but as I speak, the vision widens and brightens, and I look 
into the future which lies yet beyond. For, as the brightness 
of the transfiguration itself shall pale before the glories of 
that dajr, when the countless hosts of God's children shall 
rise from the sleep of death to be changed into his glory, so 
do the triumphs of truth here lose their lustre in the light of 
that day when the ransomed shall enter their heavenly home. 
Then shall the angelic choir cease their anthem of praises to 



THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. 57 

listen to the new song of those who have been saved by the 
glorious gospel of Christ. 

In conclusion, I briefly present two points for your con- 
sideration. 

First, let us not consent to the perversion of this gospel. 
Paul says, "Though we, or any angel from heaven, preach 
any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached 
unto you, let him be accursed." Let us be watchful in 
guarding the purity and preserving the simplicity of this 
gospel. 

And, lastly, by its glorious revelations, by its fullness of 
blessing, by its marvellous grace, by its adaptation to human 
wants, by its victories already achieved let us give ourselves 
to its propagation with renewed zeal, ' ' Let him that heareth 
say, come." 



SPECIAL INFLUENCE IN CONVERSION. 



And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city 
of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the 
Lord opened, that she attended to the things spoken by Paul. — 
Acts xvi: 14. 

We are naturally fond of the mysterious — especially of 
mysten' in religion. That which shrouds itself in mist and 
stands half concealed and half revealed impresses the imagina- 
tion and inspires sacred awe. 

To very many, religion is the most incomprehensible and 
inexplicable of all mysteries. Especially is there great 
mystery shrouding the entrance upon the Christian life. Con- 
version is looked upon as a kind of spiritual miracle. It is 
held that in order to its accomplishment special divine influ- 
ence is needed ; that the ordinary means of grace are not 
sufficient ; that without special divine help, in each case, it 
is impossible for man to understand the divine message, to 
believe it ; to obey it, and to become a Christian. I desire, 
therefore, with all candor, and in the light of sound reason 
and the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, to consider the 
question: Is any special divine influence either needed or 
promised in order that men may believe the gospel and become 
Christians ? 

You may readily see that this question is not simply a specu- 
lative one, but that it is an intensely practical question. 

Its legitimate fruits make it such. It exerts a powerful 
influence over men at the very turning-point of their lives. 

1. In the first place, it causes men to stand still, thinking 
they have no power to act. For, in what way can we sup- 
(58) 



SPECIAL INFLUENCE IN CONVERSION. 59 

press all effort more effectually than by persuading the 
people that they are absolutely unable to do anything ? 

2. Still further, it naturally causes those who think a spe- 
cial influence is promised, to wait for it. Many are post- 
poning the time of their turning for no other reason. Chris- 
tians have frequently told me they would have turned to the 
Lord much earlier had it not been they were waiting for some 
special influence. And are we not forced to fear that many 
go down to their graves waiting for it ? 

3. In the third place, the tendency of the theory is to turn 
the attention of the people away from the gospel. If they 
have not the ability to understand and believe it without spe- 
cial enlightenment, if it has not power unless specially ener- 
gized why should they give earnest heed to it? They look 
elsewhere for what they need. In some moment of quiet 
waiting, or of agonizing prayer, they hope the Lord will 
speak directly to them. 

4. A fourth result of this theory is that through its mysti- 
cism it tends to produce skepticism and infidelity among per- 
sons whose reason is well developed and dominant. The 
theory appears so contrary to sound reason and so mani- 
festly unjust in its conclusions, that they reject it. But, 
they have been taught that the theory is an essential part of 
scripture teaching. They, therefore, reject the scriptures as 
a revelation from God, for certainly the Author of reason 
cannot be the author of a doctrine so unreasonable. While 
I speak, there comes to my mind a striking illustration of 
this in the case of one of my intimate friends. 

These considerations are sufficient to show that the ques- 
tion is an intensely practical one. If, however, the theory 
is true, we should know it and act upon it ; but if it is 
false we should reject it and let it go down, carrying with 
it all its consequences. Let us, therefore, examine some 



60 SPECIAL INFLUENCE IN CONVERSION. 

of the reasons which may be presented in support of this 
theory. 

1. In the first place, it may be said in support of it, that 
not all who hear the gospel are blessed. Some hearts are 
opened to it and receive it with joy, while others are in on 
way affected by it. This is a fact. How can it be ex- 
plained? The same gospel is preached in each case. All 
influences which we can see in one case are brought to bear 
in the other. Yet results are different : If results are differ- 
ent, must there not be a corresponding difference in the 
causes? But, the causes, so far as we can see and estimate, 
are exactly the same. Must we not, therefore, suppose that, 
in addition to the causes which are apparent, there was 
some hidden cause in the cases where such joyous results 
followed ? 

In answer to this I ask attention, first, to the fact that 
this is not peculiar to religion. The same diversity of re- 
sults appears in reference to any other book or message. 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," for illustration, produced a variety 
of results. I know some men whose lives, politically, were 
moulded in harmony with its sentiments and the influence 
which the reading of that book had over them will follow 
them to their graves. On the other hand I know men whose 
hostility was awakened by reading it. Then there are others 
who were influenced neither one way nor the other. These 
are facts. They are parallel to those cited in reference to 
the divershry of results following the preaching of the gos- 
pel. How will you explain these facts ? Do you feel compelled 
to resort to the supposition that a special influence was put 
forth in some cases, and that it was withheld in others? 
Certainly not. Then why resort to this supposition to ex- 
plain the corresponding diversity in the effects produced 
by the reading of the scriptures or the hearing of the gospel? 



SPECIAL INFLUENCE IN CONVERSION. 61 

Christ gives us the correct explanation in his parable of the 
sower. See Matt, xiii: 1-9 ; 18-23. In this parable he pre- 
dicts that this very diversity of results will follow the preach- 
ing of the gospel. In some cases no impression is made ; 
in others it is transient ; in others, more lasting ; in others, 
only a small harvest ; in others, larger ; in others, very large. 
Here is presented the greatest variety, graded all the way up 
from no results whatever to the very largest possible. Now, 
how does he explain this phenomenon? Not by supposing 
any variety in the seed, or that special energizing influences 
attended the seed in some cases that were withheld in 
others, but by the actual diversity of the soil. This explana- 
tion commends itself as reasonable. It places the matter on 
the same plane and explains it in the same way in which we 
would explain the corresponding diversity in secular and 
political matters. 

2. Again, it is urged in support of this theory that sinners 
are represented as dead and their conversion is spoken of as 
being quickened, or made alive. Eph. ii: 1. The dead have 
no power to wake themselves. Not until Christ, the life- 
giving one, stood by the sepulchre and called with a loud 
voice did Lazarus come forth. So of sinners. They are 
dead, and it is therefore claimed they have no power. 
Special influence must go forth to quicken them before they 
can rise from this spiritual death. The power that regener- 
ates is special. It must be put forth in each case. 

Let us examine into this. That sinners are represented as 
being dead is true. But, is the language literal or figurative ? 
Unquestionably it is figurative. They are compared to those 
literally dead. They are not absolutely dead When, then, 
they are said to be dead in trespasses and sins, are we to 
understand they are so dead that they can neither think nor 
do that which is good? Christians are also said to be dead. 



62 SPECIAL INFLUENCE IN CONVERSION. 

They are dead to sin. Are they so dead they can neither 
think nor do that which is wrong? Certainly not. If, then, 
when Christians are said to be dead to sin it does not imply 
they cannot do wrong, neither are we to conclude when 
sinners are said to be dead in sin they cannot do that which 
is right. 

Whatever theories may teach, the fact is that in every per- 
son in the world good and evil both are found. There is 
none so good but that evil is in him, and none so bad but 
that good is in him. The doctrine of total depravity is not 
sustained by a careful study of human nature. The work of 
regeneration is the development of the good and the suppres- 
sion of the evil, until the good becomes regnant. The 
gospel recognizes the universality of the moral sense and 
makes its appeal to that. The tone of its utterances and 
the nature of its call imply that man is not too dead to hear, 
to understand, to believe, to turn and enter upon the Chris- 
tian life. 

3. Another reason urged in support of this special influ- 
ence is found in the fact that the gospel is called the sword 
of the Spirit, and the sword is powerless and ineffective un- 
less it has some one to wield it. A sword can accomplish 
nothing by itself. The gospel is only a sword. 

Very true. But does it follow from this that it must, in 
some special manner, be used in each case by the Spirit 
himself? It is called the sword of the Spirit because the 
Spirit is the maker of it. It is to be used by Christians. 
If you will turn to the sixth chapter of Ephesians you will 
find that this sword is a part of the Christian armor and 
must be wielded by the Christian soldier. Eph. vi: 17. 
Paul says it is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing 
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and 
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of 



SPECIAL INFLUENCE IN CONVERSION. 63 

the heart. The sword is all right. All we need is faithful 
men to wield it. 

4. The case of Lydia is supposed to be a demonstration 
of special influence put forth to prepare the heart to receive 
the divine message — ' ' Whose heart the Lord opened that 
she attended to the things spoken by Paul. ' ' 

That the Lord opened her heart there can be no question. 
But, what is meant here by her heart being opened ? You 
answer that she had a wicked, hardened, unregenerate heart, 
and that the Lord wrought a special work upon it to change 
it from all this. What evidence have you of this? The facts 
mentioned concerning her go to establish the very opposite. 
First. She was already a devout worshiper of God. Sec- 
ond. She was true to her faith when away from home, even 
among heathen. Third. She was so faithful that she closed 
her place of business and observed the Sabbath at the sacri- 
fice of her business interests. Fourth. She spent that day 
in worship although the place where she was sojourning 
afforded no synagogue. Fifth. She persisted in observing 
the day with appropriate devotions, although there was no 
man to conduct the services. These are some of the facts. 
In the light of them can you say she had a bad heart? 
Who here can give such evidence of a devout heart as 
Lydia? What, then, was wrong with her heart! She was a 
Jewess, and her heart was contracted by narrow Jewish 
prejudices. Her heart was opened, that is, it expanded. It 
enlarged from the narrowness of its former faith to the 
catholic and philanthropic feelings produced by the gospel. 

But, hoiv was this accomplished? What means did the 
Lord employ ? If you will but glance back over the history 
immediately preceding this case you will see the Lord work- 
ing toward this end. The messengers were divinely guided 
to that place ; the message was divinely given ; it was 



64 SPECIAL INFLUENCE IN CONVERSION. 

divinely confirmed. That message, as given and confirmed, 
accomplished the good work. The result was, " she 
attended to the things spoken by Paul." That is she did 
them. Attend is here used in that sense. It is the evidence 
that her heart was opened, and is an indication of the extent 
of that work. Her heart was so affected that she did what 
was commanded. That isthe best evidence that you can pos- 
sibly give that your heart is right. 

Having examined the ground upon which the theory rests, 
I now desire to file a few objections against the theory. 

1. First of all it relieves all who have not been favored 
with this special influence of the sin of unbelief. If they 
cannot believe without it then they cannot be .justly held 
responsible for their unbelief. Nor is this all. If they are 
not responsible for their unbelief they cannot be justly held 
responsible for all other sins which flow from unbelief. A 
theory which legitimately leads to such sad conclusions must 
be false. 

2. Second, the theory makes God a respecter of persons. 
Some believe and are saved. Others are not. Why this 
difference? The theory says, God did for some what he did 
not for others. We cannot hold to the theory and refuse to 
accept its legitimate and necessary conclusions. It makes 
God a respecter of persons. But Peter says, " God is no 
respecter of persons." We must therefore, abandon the 
theory. 

3. In the third place it makes Jesus guilty of cruel 
mockery for he commands the gospel to be preached to all, 
knowing that there are many who cannot accept it, — know- 
ing that none can accept it to the saving of their souls unless 
this special influence is put forth, and yet he will not put it 
forth for all. They are helpless. The prize is held before 
them, but their hands are paralyzed. They cannot grasp it. 



SPECIAL INFLUENCE IN CONVERSION. 65 

Still he holds it before their eyes and exhorts them to receive 
it. He tells them if they do not believe they will be damned, 
yet gives them not the power which enables them to believe. 
What cruel, fiendish mockeiy is this ! Believe it of Jesus if 
you can. I cannot. 

Away with the theory. It has no foundation in Scripture. 
It is contrary to the moral sense of mankind. It is false in 
its essense and pernicious in its results. It is an aspersion 
against the divine throne. It defames God. It belies Christ. 
It is a deep pit between the sinner and the cross. Into it 
many have fallen. Remove it. Away with it, away with it ! 

I take up the Bible. I turn the leaves of the New Testa- 
ment. In the light of its teachings I state to you briefly the 
case as it is. 

We are sinners standing in imminent danger. We need 
an atonement for sin. We need a revelation to guide us. 
God has made provision for us according to his abundant 
mercy. He sent his Son into the world to seek and to save 
the lost. Christ gave up his own life on the tree of the cross. 
His blood has been shed. That blood cleanseth from all sin. 
The Holy Spirit has been sent to reveal the way. This 
gospel is his message. It teaches the way. The Father 
calls you to come back from your wanderings in the ways of 
sin. The Son beseeches you. The Spirit says come. You 
can hear. You can come. The responsibility rests with 
you. Flee now for safety to the foot of the cross. 

5 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is 
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleas- 
ure.— Phil, ii: 12, 13. 

No man desires to be lost. In many cases the desire to be 
saved may not be very strong, but I cannot believe that a 
desire to be lost exists in even the most corrupt human heart. 
It is possible for every man to be saved. God is no re- 
specter of persons. Christ died for all. When he had ac- 
complished his work on earth, and was readj^ to ascend to 
the Father who had sent him, he committed the glad tidings 
of salvation to chosen men, and bade them go into all the 
world and preach the gospel to every creature. From that 
moment their work was to preach, their field was the wide, 
wide world, and their mission was to every creature in it. 
But why preach the gospel to every creature if there are 
some who cannot accept it and be saved? To do it would be 
not only most unreasonable, but it would be cruel mockery. 
Blessed be the name of our glorious Redeemer, the way of 
life stands open to all. It stands open now. It stands open 
for you. 

My present purpose is to show how to be saved both here 
and hereafter. My chief desire is that the answer which I 
may present shall be the answer given in the Holy Scriptures. 
Next to this stands the desire to present the answer in a 
manner so plain and simple that all may easily understand it. 
I must content myself with little more than a mere state- 
ment. I shall aim to be full, but not prolix ; brief, but not 
obscure. It must be remembered that indepedently of rev- 
(66) 






YOUR OWN SALVATION. 67 

elation we can know nothing concerning the plan of sal- 
vation. Neither from the teachings of nature, nor from the 
light of human reason can we learn the way of life. ^For all 
our knowledge in the case we are shut up to what the Bible 
says. Hence, in what I am about to say my appeal shall be 
to that alone. Before proceeding to my main purpose, how- 
ever, it will be well to note a few simple but important facts. 

1. No man has a right to throw away either his life or 
his soul. If it is a man's duty to save his life when in dan- 
ger of drowning, it is no less his duty to endeavor to save his 
soul when in danger of being lost forever. You have as 
much right to take your own life as you have to lose your 
own soul. You have no right to do either. 

2. No man can reasonably hope to be saved who does 
not put forth some effort to save himself. He must not 
only will, but do. Every man must act for himself. Our 
friends cannot save us. Great as may be their solicitude 
for us, and much as they may do, there is a point where 
efforts must stop — and that point is always short of salva- 
tion, unless we are aroused to earnest action. I say it rever- 
ently, and because the Scriptures so clearly teach it — God 
himself will not save us unless we strive to be saved. 

3. Our salvation should be the object of our deepest 
solicitude. We should be in earnest about this as we are 
in earnest about nothing else. The soul is of priceless 
value. " What will it profit a man though he should gain 
the whole world and lose his soul? " Men are in earnesMn 
toiling for wealth, and in striving for worldly honor, but 
what are all these worth when compared with the soul. Bet- 
ter live as poor Lazarus, the beggar, and die neglected and 
unknown, if at last you may be borne by angels to the 
saints' eternal home, than to feast like Dives here, and then 
lift up your cry of hopeless anguish in torment hereafter. 



68 YOUR OWN SALVATION. 

You are in danger. Awake and flee for }^our life! Let 
nothing stop you. 

4. Whatever lessons may lie, partly concealed and partly 
revealed, in our text, this one lies upon the very sur- 
face — that God and man unite in working out human salva- 
tion. The command is, " work out jour own salvation with 
fear and trembling;" the encouragement is, "for God 
worketh in you, both to will and to do his good pleasure." 
God works and we must work. I have nothing to do with 
theories which stand opposed to this vital truth. I have not 
time to discuss them. Against them all I wish to placo just 
a few clear passages from the word of God, and then pass 
on. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, " Not every 
one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
dom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father who 
is in heaven." (Matt. vii:2l.) Again, "Therefore, 
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will 
liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock," 
etc. ' 'And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and 
doeth them not shall be likened to a foolish man who built 
his house upon the sand," etc. (Matt, vii: 24-27.) And 
again, i ' Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, in the 
which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and 
shall come forth ; they that have done good, to the resurrec- 
tion of life, and they that have done evil, to the resurrection 
of condemnation." (John v: 28, 29.) And still again, 
"And being made perfect he became the author of eternal 
salvation to all them that obey him." (Heb. v: 9.) And 
more yet, "And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when 
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed^ rom heaven with his mighty 
angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 
not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
(II. Thess. i: 7, 8.) Turn to one more passage. "Behold, 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 69 

I come quickly ; and my reward is with me, to give every 
man according as h is work shall be." (Rev. xxii: 12.) I 
could easily add many more. These are enough. If you 
wish to enter the kingdom of heaven ; if you wish to come 
forth to the resurrection of life"; if you wish to enjoy that 
eternal salvation of which Jesus is the author ; if you wish 
to rest with the apostles of Christ and the saints of all ages 
when the troubles of life are over ; if you wish to escape the 
sword of vengeance, when in flaming fire and with mighty 
angels the Lord shall descend from heaven ; and if you wish 
• to receive from him in that day, when both the living and the 
dead shall stand before him in awful judgment, the reward 
which no hand but his can bestow, then you must earnestly 
strive for it in this life. Let us then consider as fully as our 
limits will allow both the work of God and the work of man 
in the problem of human redemption. 

I. God's Work. 

Salvation is primarily and necessarily of grace. It was 
commenced, it is carried on, and it will be finally consum- 
mated, not by any scheme or merit of our own, but by the 
grace of God. t; God so loved the world, that he gave hi s 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life." (John iii : 16. ) The 
plan of salvation is the offspring of divine love. We can 
offer nothing to atone for sin. Were thy head waters and 
thine eyes fountains of tears, thou couldst not wash away 
the stain of thy guilt. The sword of Justice hangs over thee 
and thou hast no power to stay the avenging stroke. Thou 
canst not build with thine own hands a city of refuge, and 
then dwell securely within its walls. Thou hast trampled 
upon the law of God, and whither wilt thou flee for safety ? 
God is everywhere. Wilt thou ascend into heaven ? He is 
there. Wilt thou descend into the under- world? Lo! God 



70 TOUR OWN SALVATION. 

is there. Wilt thou take the wings of the morning and dwell 
in the uttermost parts of the sea? He is even there. Dost 
thou say, " Surely the darkness will cover me? " Even the 
night shall be light about thee. Yea, the darkness hideth not 
from God. The darkness and the light are both alike to 
him. But God has laid help upon one mighty to save. He 
gave his Son to die for men. ' ' Thanks be unto God for his 
unspeakable gift." (II Cor. ix: 15.) 

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, says, "For by grace 
are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it is 
the gift of God." (ii: 8.) In another place in the same, 
epistle, he writes, "Christ also loved the church, and gave 
himself for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the 
washing of water by the word, that he might present it to 
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or 
any such thing ; but that it should be holy and without blem- 
ish." (v: 25-27). In his epistle to Titus he says, "But 
after that the kindness and love (philanthropy) of God our 
Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness 
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, 
by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost ; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ 
our Savior ; that being justified by his grace, we should be 
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. " (iii : 4-7). 
How marvelous is God' s grace, and how wonderful his work for 
the children of men ! " O the depth of the riches both of the 
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his 
judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath 
known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his coun- 
sellor? or who hath first given to him and it shall be recom- 
pensed to him again? For of him, and through him, and to 
him, are all things; to whom be glory forever. Amen." 
(Rom. xi: 33-36.) 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 71 

God's work in our salvation is immeasurably great. But 
please notice, first of all, that he does not do our work for us. 
The text does not say that he wills and does for us, and it 
cannot be. Though God influences men, yet it is man who 
''wills and does." There are those who appear to think 
that God will do their work for them, and that they need put 
forth no effort. They are just floating along. They expect 
to float into the church and then in some way float into heaven. 
Now God promises to help those who help themselves. He 
never does for us what we can do for ourselves. We can 
plow, and sow, and cultivate the growing harvest. God does 
not do these things for us. We cannot turn the seasons round 
and bring the glad sunshine and the refreshing showers. 
So God sends them. In our salvation there are many things 
we are commanded to do, and we are able to do them. 
These God will not do for us. There are many more which 
we cannot do. These belong to God, and he is faithful. 

In the next place, please notice that whatever may be the 
manner in which God works in us both to will and to to, he 
does not force us to do our part. The will cannot be forced. 
God never compels a man to become a Christian. Salvation 
is not simply a question of power, Do not think, O man, 
that God can save you if he were only willing. He is will- 
ing. He is waiting for j^ou to will, and to do. Look to 
your own will. Bend that to the will of God and 
obey the gospel of his Son. If you remain unfor- 
given here and are lost hereafter the blame will be 
yours. God has given his Son to be a sacrifice for sin. 
He has opened up the way of approach to himself. By the 
precious blood of Jesus he has purchased redemption. He 
has sent his message of mercy to you and asked you to ac- 
cept it. He urges }^ou by his unspeakable love, by the ter- 
rors of the judgment to come, and by all the blessed pro- 



72 YOUR OWN SALVATION. 

mises of his word to turn and be saved. You are able to do 
it. A most fearful responsibility rests upon you. May God 
help me, by the light of his word, to direct you in the work 
which you are to perform in accepting and appropriating the 
salvation which he offers. 

II. Man's Work. 

It will greatly assist us in this investigation to remember 
that salvation is two-fold — present and future — here and 
hereafter. The text was addressed to those who were already 
Christians. They were at that time forgiven, and members 
of the Church of Christ. There was however a salvation 
not yet attained, and for which they were to work with fear 
and trembling. It was to give them most anxious concern. 
We are frequently taught in the Scriptures that one may be 
truly converted here, and then not enjoy eternal salvation 
hereafter. He may deny Christ. He may trample upon his 
precious blood. He may do despite to the Spirit of grace. 
He may be adopted into the family of God, and. afterward 
so live as to be disinherited. Our salvation is therefore 
two-fold. The first part consists of the blotting out of all 
past sins and admission into the family of God on earth ; the 
second consists of a part in the resurrection of the righteous 
and admission into the family of God in Heaven. By the 
first we enter the kingdom of grace ; by the second we enter 
the kingdom of glory. In the first we become heirs ; in the 
second we actually inherit. Any complete answer to the 
question, what must I do to be saved? must comprehend 
therefore an answer to each of these parts. First, what must 
I do to be saved here, and what must I then do to be saved 
hereafter? I might answer these in a general way by saying 
that to secure the first you must come to Christ, and that to 
secure the second 3 7 ou must continue to follow him. But as 
my desire is to be very specific and plain I propose to enter 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 73 

more into detail. How and in what spirit are we to come to 
Christ? 

1. We are to come with conscious need. When the 
three thousand cried out, on that memorable Pentecost, 
" Men and brethren, what must we do ? " they saw their guilt 
and were deeply conscious of their need. When Saul, pros- 
trate on the ground, asked, "Lord what will thou have me 
to do?" there was manifest a spirit of humility and entire 
submission which told of his conscious need. And when 
the jailor at Philippi, almost frantic with fright, came trem- 
bling and fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas, his very 
question and manner told the want he so deeply felt. Do 
not come to Christ in a spirit of self-sufficiency. He will 
not receive you. He came not to call the righteous, but 
sinners to repentance. He came to seek and save the lost. 
In coming to Christ let your prayer be that of the poor pub- 
lican, "Lord be merciful to me a sinner." You are guilty 
before God and- need — not justice — but mercy. Christ's 
precious invitation is to all who labor and are heavy laden. 
"Come unto me and I will give you rest. Take my 
yoke upon you, and learn of me : for I am meek and lowly 
in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." He 
pronounces his blessing upon those who hunger and thirst 
after righteousness, saying, "they shall be filled." You 
have sinned. This you know. You cannot lay your hand 
upon your heart and say, this heart has never condemned 
me. It has condemned you and that right often. I believe 
there are times in every man's life when he is called to stand 
before the bar of his own conscience to hear his condemna- 
tion. If our own hearts condemn us, let us remember that 
God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Surely 
then he condemns us. We forget many of our sins, but 
before him there is a book of remembrance. Not one sin is 



74 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 



forgotten with him until it is washed away by the blood of 
Christ. He can see sin much better than we. Our moral 
vision is very dim, but his is perfectly clear. We may sin 
in secret but he seeth in secret, and in the day of judgment 
our most secret sins will be made known, and before the 
Judge of all the earth we must answer for them. Your 
tears cannot wash away a single stain. You need a Savior. 
Christ is mighty to save. Come to him in conscious need. 
This is the very first condition of the gospel call. 

2. You must come, led by faith in him. He is an 
all-sufficient Savior and as such you must trust him. To the 
conscience-stricken jailor, Paul answered, lC Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." In another 
place it is written, ' * Without faith it is impossible to please 
God." Do you say you cannot believe? Why not? Can 
you believe your friend who has never, in the very least 
thing, deceived you? Cannot you accept his word when he 
makes you a solemn pledge ? Why then can you not believe 
Christ? Has he ever deceived any one? Can you point to 
a single instance where he has failed to keep his word to the 
very letter? Why, then, can you not trust him? Has he 
not shown his power to save? Has he not cleansed and 
saved the worst? Has he not shown his willingness to save. 
Has he not evinced even an anxiety to save ? Can j t ou then 
doubt his ability or his willingness to forgive you? I can 
see no room for doubt. He has removed every obstacle. 
But are you troubled about the kind of faith you are called 
upon to exercise ? Let me notice some features of the faith 
which saves. First of all, it rests, like all faith must rest, 
upon testimony. In concluding his histo^ of the life of 
Jesus, John said, "And many other signs truly did Jesus, in 
the presence of his disciples which are not written in this 
book ; but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 75 

is the Christ, the Son of God : and that believing ye might 
have life through his name." He wrote that men might 
believe. He presented testimony in order to produce saving 
faith. Again, the faith which saves lays hold upon Christ, 
for its object. It is not faith in a creed, or in a church, 
much less in your own merit and power, but a faith which 
takes hold upon Christ. John wi ote that you might believe 
that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. This, then, is what 
you are to believe. It is personal faith in a personal Savior. 
3. You must renounce sin and cdl that s'ands opposed 
to Christ. You must repent. ' ; Now God commandeth all 
men everywhere to repent," said Paul when he stood in the 
midst of Mars hill and preached to the Athenians. If God 
has commanded all men everywhere to repent, then are you 
commanded to repent. Remember, too, that this command 
comes not from men, but from God who " has appointed a 
day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness." 
By the certainty and the solemnity of that coming judgment 
he calls you to repentance. Will you heed his warning 
voice? But, you say, "I am told that I must see myself as 
the chief of sinners, and this I cannot do. I know I am a 
sinner, but then I know that others are even worse than I 
am. I cannot feel that I am the very worst of the wicked." 
Now, I do not wish to palliate sins, nor to make you think 
you are better than you reaily are ; but, let me ask, who told 
you that you should see yourself as the very chief of sinners? 
Has God? I have never seen such a requirement in all his 
word. Men have no right to require in your salvation what 
God does not require. God calls upon you to see yourself 
as 3^011 really are — condemned and hastening on to judg- 
ment. Another says, " I cannot feel as I think I ought to 
feel. I know I am a sinner, but then I cannot weep over 
my sins as I think I ought to weep." My dear sir, have you 



70 YOUR OWN SALVATION. 

never thought of this — that repentance has not so much to 
do with your emotions as it has to do with the purpose of 
your heart? You may shed your tears of bitter sorrow until 
the very fountain whence they flow is diy, and 3^et not truly 
repent. The essential feature of repentance U a change of 
your ivill in reference to sin. This change of will is produced 
by sorrow for sin, and leads to a reformation of life. Away 
with all false and fanciful notions about this important 
duty. 

4. You should publicly confess your faith in Jesus as the 
Christ, the Son of the living God. Christ himself has made 
the promise that, "Whosoever shall confess me before men, 
him will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven, ' * 
and to this he has added that, " Whosoever shall deny me 
before men, him will I also deny before my father which is 
in Heaven." A blessed promise and a solemn warning are 
here placed side by side. Which do you desire — that the 
glorious Christ shall confess you before the everlasting 
Father, or that he shall deny you in his presence ? What, 
then, will you do with Christ? Will you by your conduct 
deny him , or by lip and life confess him ? Hear these words 
from Paul : "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the 
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath 
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with 
the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the 
mouth confession is made unto salvation." In the great 
controversy about Jesus, we are not allowed to be neutral. 
The martyrs in flames confessed him, angels have confessed 
him. The Father himself openly confessed him, and Jesus 
confessed and denied not at the peril of his life. You should 
publicly confess him. 

5. You are inquired to be baptized into the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. In the 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 77 

great commission to his apostles, Christ said, " Go, teach all 
nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt. xxviii:19.) 
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." 
(Markxvi: 16.) Peter said to the inquirers of Jerusalem, 
" Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of 
Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." (Acts ii: 38.) 
Ananias said to penitent Saul, "Arise and be baptized, and 
wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." 
(Acts xxii: 16.) From these passages two things appear. 
First, that baptism is a duty ; and secondly, that it has been 
divinely appointed as a condition of the forgiveness of sins. 
These scriptures, however, do not ascribe any mystic or 
miraculous power to this ordinance. They present it as a 
condition, divinely imposed, and speak of it as an act of faith. 
But neither in the faith nor the obedience which we may ren- 
der can there be any merit. Christ, by his own blood, pro- 
cures salvation. We, by the conditions specified, personally 
appropriate it. 

By the way which I have pointed out, you are to come to 
Christ and receive remission of sins and adoption into the 
family of God on earth. In other words, you become a 
Christian. Remember our text was addressed to Chris- 
tians — ' ' Work out your own salvation with fear and trem- 
bling." How must I work out this salvation! I have 
already said that as the first is secured by coming to Christ, 
so this is to be secured by continuing to follow Christ. This 
is a Scriptural generalization. We have noticed already the 
specific things contained in the first. Let us now notice how 
we are to continue to follow Christ. By following him is 
meant, of course, taking him as our pattern — striving to 
imitate the exemplary life he lived. We are to drink cf his 
spirit and manifest it in our lives. "He that sayeth that he 



78 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 



abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he 
walked." (I John ii:6.) The way of life is brightened 
and made glorious by the example of Jesus as he walked be- 
fore men. Even Renan, the infidel, felt compelled to say 
that, " all ages will proclaim that, among the sons of men, 
there were none born greater than Jesus. ' ' The character of 
Christ must be studied. We must learn of him, by what he 
did, as well as by what he said. What, then, are some of 
the features of this model character ? 

The will of God was the rule of his life. When about to 
come to this world he is represented as saying, " Lo, I come 
to do thy Will, O God." (Heb. x: 9.) When only twelve 
years of age he went to Jerusalem with his parents to wor- 
ship. They started on their return, leaving him behind, but 
missing him they went back and found him in the temple 
conversing with the doctors and lawyers. When they chided 
him for not returning with them, his reply was, "Wist ye 
not I must be about my Father's business." (Luke ii: 9.) 
And when the time of his death drew near — when the guilt 
of the race rested upon him — his prayer was, "Father, if 
thou be willing, remove this cup from me : nevertheless, not 
my will, but thine, be done." (Luke xxii:42.) The will 
of God was the supreme rule of his life. It must be ours in 
following him. 

He was unselfish. He came not to be ministered to, but 
to minister. He was rich yet for our sakes he became poor, 
that we, through his poverty, might be rich. (II. Cor. 
viii : 9). " Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ 
Jesus ; who, being in the form of God, thought it not rob- 
bery to be equal with God ; but made himself of no reputa- 
tion, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was 
made in the likeness of men ; and being found in fashion as 
a man he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 79 

even the death of the cross." (Phil, ii: 5-9). He 
denied himself rest and food sometimes, saying, "I have 
meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will 
of him that sent me, and to finish his work." (John 
iv: 32-34.) 

He was a man of prayer. One would most reasonably 
suppose that if any could live without prayer surely he 
could. Yet we often find him engaged in prayer. He 
would withdraw from the crowd to be alone with his Father. 
Often through the entire night he would be engaged in active 
communion with G-od. In this we must follow him. The 
life of the Christian must be one of devotion. 

He was actively engaged in doing good. ' ' He went about, ' ' 
says Peter, "constantly doing good." He lived to labor. 
He sought the helpless that he might help them. He healed 
the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears 
of the deaf, restored the paralytic, healed the leper, fed the 
hungry, instructed the ignorant and raised the dead. He 
spent his life in ceaseless activities. "I must work the 
works of him that sent me," is a sentence from his own lips. 
"Let them who have believed in him be careful to practice 
good works," was one of the faithful sayings in the early 
churches. By active lives spent in doing good we follow 
Christ. 

He ivas gracious in forgiving. His life abounds in illus- 
trations of his forgiving nature. He cherished no malice. 
He prayed for his most bitter foes. Who can forget the 
prayer which arose from the cross, " Father forgive them, 
they know not what they do." We must cultivate a for- 
giving spirit. If we forgive not, how may we hope to be 
forgiven ? 

These are some of the features in the character we are to 
imitate. To live such a life, in this evil world, requires a 



80 



YOUR OWN SALVATION. 



struggle. It is called the fight of faith. It is a fight. 
Enemies are around us and within us. We are tempted, and 
must be, so long as we remain in the flesh. But 
thanks be to God he promises to help in every time of 
trouble. We need his grace to strengthen us and he has 
promised it. The gift of his son is a pledge that he will 
give us all we may need. Think not of being borne to 
heaven without effort on your part. He who enters through 
the gate must strive. The reward beyond is worthy the 
strife. We cannot now fully comprehend the richness of that 
salvation for which we struggle. It surpasses the concep- 
tion of man. We may know by and by. When from every 
kindred, and people, and nation, and tribe, and tongue 
under the whole heavens, the redeemed ones are gathered 
home, when we shall hear the sentence pronounced against 
those forever lost, when we shall look upon the face of him 
whose we are and whom we serve, when we see the king in 
his beauty and glory unearthly, when we hear that song 
unsung before, the song of salvation in heaven, as it rises 
from that countless host of grateful hearts, and when God 
shall with his own hand wipe every tear away, then — oh, 
then — may we begin to realize the priceless blessing so freely 
offered in the gospel. I have sought by the light of God's 
word to show you how to be saved both here and hereafter. 
Will you begin your journey heavenward now? Will you 
come to Christ and then follow him whithersoever he may 
lead you? Do not delay, I beg you. By the coming judg- 
ment, by the cross of Christ, by the soul undying, by the 
warnings and the promises of the word of God, I beg you, 
turn to Christ and live. 



ORDINANCES OF THE LORD.* 

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the 
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. — Luke i : (>. 

This commendation was written of Zacharias and Eliza- 
beth, the parents of John the Baptist. Its value lies chiefly 
in the fact that it is divine. The approving words of good 
men, however precious, may hardly be compared with the 
approbation of God. Every reverent spirit desires to know 
what the Lord commends, and to do it. In this case He 
commends their righteousness, as shown in their walking in 
all His commandments and ordinances blameless. 

There are some features of this text which I think it im- 
portant for us to fix . in our minds in the very beginning. 
One is that the ordinances which Zacharias and Elizabeth 
observed were ordinances of the Lord. Had they been the 
ordinances of men, having nothing more than human author- 
ity, I am sure this commendation would not have been writ- 
ten of them. The Lord condemns, with clear and solemn 
condemnation, the religious observance of all such ordinances. 
They may be beautiful and elaborate, and impressive, yet 
he does not approve their observance as a part of religious 
duty. " In vain do you worship me, teaching for doctrines 
the commandments of men." Note this, too, that these 
aged servants of God did not make a division of the ordin- 
ances of the Lord, and observe some while they neglected 
others, but they walked in all the commandments and ordin- 



* Preached just before administering the ordinance of Christian 
baptism. 

6 (81) 



82 ORDINANCES OF THE LORD. 

ances of the Lord. They had not adopted the theory of 
essentials and non-essentials. They observed all. Then, 
too, the manner and spirit in which this was done is worthy 
of notice. It is expressed by the word blameless. 

There are those in our day who would scarcely have 
praised them for these things. They have such a distaste 
for ordinances that they would not think of making the 
observance of even divine ordinances any ground of praise. 
Although many of them are very good people, yet even to 
listen with respectful attention to a sermon on these subjects 
is a heavy tax on their toleration. And this distaste — or 
prejudice, I would better call it — arises from several 
causes. Let me mention a few. 

The bitter controversies which have been waged over 
ordinances is one' cause. For, it must be confessed, that 
some of the most bitter and disgraceful controversies which 
have convulsed the church have been about these matters. 
Another cause is found, I think, in the extreme and unwar- 
ranted value which some have attached to ordinances. One 
extreme begets another. Some overvalue ordinances, prac- 
tically making all religion consist in their observance, 
and, quite naturally, others go to the opposite 
extreme and practically ignore thtm. And still another 
cause is found in the supposed antagonism between the ob- 
servance of these ordinances and a spiritual religion. They 
seek to be spiritual ; they desire a heart-felt religion ; they 
look upon ordinances as carnal and ceremonial and cold, and 
so, for this reason, ignore them. And still another cause 
is found in the misapplication of certain Scriptures which 
speak of ordinances as having been abolished. (Eph. ii : 15 ; 
Col. ii: 14-20.) These are some of the causes which have 
produced a very positive distaste for ordinances and espe- 
cially a dislike for even Christian discussion of them. 



ORDINANCES OF THE LORD. 83 

We should avoid extremes. While we may have a very 
wholesome distaste for controversj^, yet it is unwise to seek 
the peace we covet by casting aside what God has enjoined. 
Nor should we allow any extreme position taken by others to 
force us to the opposite extreme. The best wa}^ to Correct 
a:iy extreme is to stand firmly on the golden mean where 
truth is found. Nor should cold formalism lead us to con- 
clude that every observance of forms in religion must of 
necessity be empty formality. The proper observance of 
ordinances cannot exist without spirituality. We should 
obey from the heart. And when Paul, or other inspired 
men, write of the abrogation of the ceremonial law of the 
Jews, let us not be so unwise as to apply what is said of these 
Jewish ordinances, to the ordinances of the Lord enjoined in 
the gospel. Let us seek to know the truth in reference to 
all matters connected with our holy religion, and to enjoy 
peace and avoid all extremes. 

My purpose this morning is to present briefly something 
of the functions of ordinances, and to estimate as near as 
we can their real value. I speak only of ordinances of the 
Lord. 

1. They are divinely appointed teachers. They are not 
idle, meaningless ceremonies. They are stereotyped les- 
sons. They are pillars erected by the divine hand on 
which the finger of God has written inscriptions for the 
passing generations of men. Take the oldest of all, the 
Sabbath. It tells of the Creator, of his work, of his 
rest, and of a rest that remains for his people. Then, 
too, what records and lessons were written all over the 
Passover. It was full of meaning. It told of bondage and 
deliverance ; of the slaying of the Egyptian first-born, and 
of the sparing of the first-born in the homes of Israel ; of 
hasty flight ; of the opened sea ; of the engulfed army in 



84 ORDINANCES OF THE LORD. 

pursuit ; of all that was thrilling and precious in the events 
that clustered about the birth of the Jewish nation. The 
day of atonement furnishes another illustration. It stood 
as a marble shaft written over with many of the profoundest 
problems that belong to the redemption of fallen man. It 
told of sin and helplessness and forgiveness. It cast its rays 
of promise on the future, and these finally painted the rain- 
bow over the cross. Baptism also is significant. It speaks 
of the facts on which our religion rests. It is radiant with 
the divine promise of foregiveness. It tells of death, it is a 
burial, it points triumphantly to a resurrection. It is a 
parable in action. So, again, of the Lord's Supper. How 
sweet and how tender are the lessons of love which make even 
these emblems of death beautiful. With his own hand, so 
soon to be nailed to the cross, our Savior inscribes in letters 
of heavenly light over this table, "Do this in remembrance 
"of me." This ordinance tells of sin and danger, and divine 
solicitude, and atoning love, and stern justice, and pleading 
mercy, and divine wrath, and inflexible law, and forgiving 
grace, and an open heaven and rejoicing ranks of ransomed 
souls, and all that salvation means and salvation cost. Ordi- 
nances are not empty ceremonies. They are significant. 
They are divinely appointed as teachers and helpers of men. 
2. In the second place they are a part of God's method of 
righteousness. I ask attention to a single passage of Scrip- 
ture and then to an illustration of it. This is the passage : 
* ' Brethren, my heart' s desire and prayer to God for Israel 
is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that 
they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 
For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going 
about to establish their own righteousness, have not sub- 
mitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." (Rom. 
x:l-3.) What is here meant by the righteousness of God? 



ORDINANCES OF THE LORD. 85 

Evidently, not the attribute of God which bears that name. 
For they were not ignorant of God's righteousness in that 
sense. They knew that he was righteous. Moreover, Paul 
cannot here be speaking of the attribute, for he says, they 
had not submitted themselves to it and it is not possible for 
men to submit themselves to an attribute. Nor can we suppose 
that when he places their righteousness in antithesis with 
what he here calls the righteousness of God he meant to say 
that they were opposing their character to the character of 
God. 

What, then, is his meaning? I answer, that by righteous- 
ness he means the plan or method by which they are made 
righteous. The context points to this. The word which 
Paul uses cannot be fully represented by any one word in 
English. By the substitution of a phrase we have his mean- 
ing in our own tongue. Thej^ were ignorant of God's method 
of constituting men righteous ; they go about to establish 
their own method of constituting men righteous ; and so 
they did not submit themselves to God's method of consti- 
tuting men righteous. 

The illustration to which I refer is found in tne incidents 
of Christ's baptism. You remember that when he asked 
to be baptized, John said, " I have need to be baptized of 
thee, and comest thou to me?" And Jesus' reply was, 
" Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." That is, 
thus it becometh us to observe all God's methods of consti- 
tuting men righteous. Baptism is a part of the divine 
method or plan of constituting us righteous. Since, then, 
ordinances are a part of the divine method of constituting 
men righteous, and if Christ could say that for this reason 
it was becoming in him to submit to them, certainly it is not 
becoming in us to contemn or ignore them. 

3. Still further, o\ir treatment of ordinances is esteemed as 



86 ORDINANCES OF THE LORD. 

our treatment of their author. This is reasonable. An 
ordinance is an observance established by authority, and to 
despise it and trample it underfoot is to despise and trample 
under foot that authority. And so Paul says, in the lesson 
which I read, in speaking of the Lord's Supper, "whoso- 
ever shall eat of this bread and drink of this cup unworthily 
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." That is, 
the way in which they treat this ordinance of the Lord is re- 
garded as the way in which they treat the Lord himself. If 
we are indifferent when he has said, ' ' Do this in remem- 
brance of me,'' it is regarded as indifference not simply in 
reference to an institution of the Lord's house, but as indiffer- 
ence toward the Lord himself. If yon prof ane this ordinance, 
if you turn it into a drunken revel, if you make of it only a 
feast to satisfy animal hunger, if you pervert it and prosti- 
tute it, the matter does not end there, but is reckoned as an 
indignity toward Christ So of baptism. In speaking to 
the Jews, of John and his baptism, Jesus said : "And all the 
people that heard him, and the publicans justified God, being 
baptized with the baptism of John ; but the Pharisees and 
lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, 
being not baptized of him. ' ' (Luke vii : 29, 30. ) And, on an- 
other occasion when he asked them concerning the baptism 
of John, whether it was from heaven, we are told that they 
reasoned with themselves, saying, u If we say from heaven, 
he will say, why then believed ye him not ! and if we say, of 
men, the people will stone us, for they be persuaded that 
John was a prophet. " (Luke xx : 4-6. ) They easily saw that 
if they admitted its divine origin they would condemn them- 
selves as guilty of rejecting divine authority, and this was 
so plain and conclusive that they deliberately agreed to re- 
turn a falsehood for an answer to Christ's question. In 
fact, all the force and authority of an ordinance is found in 



ORDINANCES OF THE LORD. 87 

its origin. We should stand by every ecclesiastical ordin- 
ance with the question, " Is it from heaven oris it of men? " 
If of men we may reject it, but if from heaven we cannot, 
without setting at defiance the authority of heaven. 
And this leads me to say, in the fourth place that 
4. Obedience to ordinances is a test of loyalty. All com- 
mands may be tests of loyalty. Christ says, " Ye are my 
friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." And again, 
it is written, " If 3^011 love me you will keep my command- 
ments." The Scriptures are full of this test of love and 
loyalty. But some things commanded are more decisive 
tests of loyalty than others. Among things enjoined upon 
us by divine authority are some so manifestly right and in 
such perfect accord with our inclination that we may observe 
and do them with no regard for the authority which enjoins 
them. Marital love, parental love, filial love, obedience to 
civil rulers, truthfulness, fidelity, honesty and many other 
things commanded of God may be obeyed with no thought of 
the command or its authority. Some things are commanded 
because they are right, while others are right only because 
they are commanded. When the candidate for baptism this 
morning humbled herself to submit to this ordinance, what 
reason can she have for this act save the all-sufficient one, 
the Lord has commanded it ? It will be bowing down to take 
his yoke. It is an open and public acknowledgment of his 
authority. In this view of the case it seems to me there is 
a manifestation of wisdom in placing at the very threshhold 
of the Christian life an ordinance that is inconvenient, dis- 
tasteful and humbling. It makes it only a more efficient test. 
So when I hear it reviled and ridiculed it confirms my con- 
viction that it must be of God. He tries us. He tests our 
loyalty. But if others revile there is a brighter side presents 
itself when we remember that, 



,C; ' S ORDINANCES OP THE LORD. 

5. God has seen Jit to join special blessings to obedience to 
this ordinance. When Jesus came up out of the waters of 
baptism and paused on the bank of the Jordan to lift his 
heart to God in prayer, the heavens were opened and the 
voice of the Father was heard confessing his Son. The Holy 
Spirit, like a dove in visible form, descended and abode upon 
him. This event stands at the opening of his ministry. 
After that ministry had been fulfilled, — after his example 
had been placed before men, after his words of life had been 
committed to chosen embassadors, after the agony of the 
garden, with bloody-sweat, had been endured, after his 
blood had been shed upon the cross and death had been con- 
quered by his resurrection and he was ready to be received 
back to the Father, in his own name he commanded his 
apostles to "go into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
every creature," adding the promise, " he that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not, shall be 
damned.' * And when we come to the time, in the unfold- 
ings of the divine plan, that these commissioned ones are to 
enter upon the work committed to them we hear them give 
answer to the agonizing cry, ' f Men and brethren, what must 
we do ? ' ' They promptly reply in the words of Peter, 
" Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of 
Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." God meets obedience 
with blessings. The promise of God joined to an ordinance 
gives to it a significance and value not its own. 

Let us here pause a moment while we glance back over 
what has been said. We have learned that the ordinances of 
the Lord are divinely appointed teachers ; that they belong 
to God's method of constituting men righteous; that the 
treatment of an ordinance is esteemed as if we so treated its 
author ; that they are tests of loyalty, and that God has 



ORDINANCES OF THE LORD. 89 

seen fit to join special promises to their proper observance. 
With these facts before you I leave it with each of you to 
form your own conclusion as to the way you will bear your- 
self toward the ordinances of our Lord. 

I will detain you to add only one other thought, and that 
is, that, 

6. Obedience to ordinances should always be from the heart. 
There are no empty forms and idle ceremonies in the gospel. 
It is a spiritual religion. It deals always with the heart. 
In writing to the church in Rome, Paul thanks God that, 
though they had been the servants of sin, yet they had 
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which had been 
delivered unto them ; being then made free from sin they be- 
came the servants of righteousness. Their obedience was a 
voice of the heart. Had it not been, had they obeyed the 
form of doctrine as a mere form, this blessing would not 
have been theirs. As we go down into the waters to be 
buried with our dear Savior, it should be with a heart con- 
trite and penitent, for we have sinned ; meek and humble, 
for we are unworthy ; loving and trustful, for the Lord has 
spoken in mercy, and his promises are sure. It is the seal- 
ing of the soul's vows. It is the public declaration of its 
sacred covenant with God. It is the open, and formal, and 
solemn renunciation of the sinful past. It is the entrance 
upon a new life. Over the baptismal grave is the rain-bow 
of promise, placed there by the pierced hand of Christ. 
u He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.* ' 



SAFETY IN SHIPWRECK. 

Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Acts 
xxvii : 31 

Paul is on his way to Rome. He is a prisoner. The hos- 
tility of the Jews in Judea had shut out all hope of justice 
for him there and so he appealed to Caesar. 

Let us join him as the vessel lies at Fair Haven, a harbor 
on the south of Crete. Julius, a centurion of Augustus' 
band has him in charge. The ship hails from Alexandria in 
Eg} T pt and is bound for Italy with a cargo of corn. She is a 
large craft, and, in addition to her cargo, carries as pas- 
sengers and crew two hundred and seventy-six souls. 

It was about this season of the year and sailing was dan- 
gerous. Paul, although a prisoner, ventured to advise 
against putting to sea, and warned them of dangers and loss. 
But, as the harbor at Fair Haven was not a commodious one 
to winter in, it was determined to set sail. One day when 
the south wind blew softly they weighed anchor, and were 
soon out upon the blue waters of the Mediterranean. 

But, not long after, there arose a tempetuous wind called 
the Eurocrydon. If you will read the twenty- seventh chap- 
ter of Acts, from the fourteenth verse to its close, you will 
find how, for many days, they were driven and tossed by 
this tempest. Oh, the terror that comes in a storm at sea ! 
No sun, no moon, no stars. The vessel has sprung a leak. 
Cargo overboard. Pumps at work. Night comes on, but 
no sleep ; day dawns, but it brings no relief. At last all 
hope has perished and the darkness of despair settles down 
( !)0 ) 



SAFETY IN SHIPWRECK. 91 

upon them. They must perish in the sea. But when that 
cheerless day came Paul gathered the sailors about him on 
the deck of the laboring vessel, and, raising his voice above 
the storm said, " Sirs, ye should have hearkened to my coun- 
sel, and not have set sail from Crete; thus would ye have 
been spared this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to 
be of good cheer ; for there shall be no loss of any man's 
life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by 
me this night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I 
serve, saying, 'Fear not, Paul; thou must stand before 
Caesar : and lo ! God hath given thee all that sail with thee. ' 
Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer ; for I believe God, that 
ivhat hath been declared unto me shall come to pass. Never- 
theless, we must be cast upon a certain island." 

The storm continues without abatement and the danger 
seems only to increase. It is now the fourteenth day. 
About midnight there are indications that they are nearing 
land and orders are given to heave the lead. Twemy 
fathoms. They sound again. Fifteen fathoms. They are 
rapidly approaching land, and danger of being dashed upon 
the- breakers gives fresh alarm. Quickly as possible four 
anchors are cast out astern and they anxiously await the 
dawn of day. 

While they thus wait, that transpired which called forth 
the words of the text. For the sailors, under pretext of carry- 
ing out some anchors from the bow, lowered the boat over the 
ship's side. Their real purpose was to save their own lives 
and leave the others to their fate. Paul detecting this, said to 
the centurion and to the soldiers. " Except these abide in 
the ship, ye cannot be saved." 

Place this by the side of that confident assurance he ex- 
pressed a few days before. "No loss of any man's life." 
He said he believed God. He is a man of faith. Yet when 



92 SAFETY IN SHIPWRECK. 

the crisis comes, he is watchful and cautious and active. 
There are those who find difficulty in reconciling these things. 
They detect, as the}' suppose, a wavering of Paul's faith. To 
me, nothing appears in his conduct, however to awaken such 
a suspicion. His conduct was perfectly consistent with his 
expression of confidence. Divine promise does not igxopvE 
human instrumentalities. This fact is the basis on which 
the two phases of his conduct are to be harmonized. Paul 
recognized this as a principle underlying the promises of 
God. Yea, more : he shows that according to his view di- 
vine promises find their fulfilment through human instrumental- 
ities, ivherever these are available. He believed in God's 
power; he believed in God's fidelity; he believed the word 
of God spoken by the angel, yet he recognized the need of 
watchfulness and skill and prudent effort on the part of all 
on board. 

The soldiers with their short-swords cut the ropes and let 
the boat drift to sea. AH on board the ship, renew their 
strength by partaking of food. The ship is lightened by 
casting the remainder of the cargo into the sea. Then when 
the clay dawns they select a place to run the ship aground. 
They cut the anchors adrift, loosed the rudder bands, hoisted 
the mainsail and strand her on the beach. The stern was 
rapidly broken by the sea. Some swimming and others on 
spars and broken pieces of the wreck sought the shore until 
all were safe on the island of Melita. Thus v;as the gracious 
promise of God fulfilled. 

I cannot think upon the conduct of Paul in this interest- 
ing event without contrasting it with that of some very good 
people in our own day. 

1. Had he been like them he might have stood upon the 
deck as the ship rode at anchor that night and said," I will 
show my great faith, before these heathen. God has prom- 



SAFETY IN SHIPWRECK. 93 

ised that no life shall be lost. I have given this assurance 
to the passengers and the crew. The ship is foundering ; 
the sea is raging ; the storm shrieks through the rigging ; in 
the lull of the storm I can hear the, sound of breakers ; I 
know the ship must go down, but God has promised and he 
is able to fulfil all that he has promised. I will show my 
faith by manifest unconcern and inactivity. '■" 

My friends, have you never heard such expressions ? Is 
it not true that absolute passivity is regarded by many as the 
manifestation of the highest degree of faith? Justification 
by faith, in order to be justification by faith, must rigorously 
exclude all human agency. It must be faith alone. And, 
in the ordinary affairs of life, we are supposed to show great 
faith only as we refuse to exert ourselves in the use of ordi- 
nary means. 

A few years ago Mrs. Girling, a religious fanatic in Eng- 
land, proposed to live by faith. Several other women 
gathered about her. They did nothing for their support, 
claiming that God would care for them, and give them their 
daily bread and all needed good. The life of the English 
philanthropist, Geo. Muller is put before the world as, par 
excellence, the ' Life of •Trust," because he does not make 
direct appeal to the benevolence of the people to give him 
support in his charitable work, but only prays God to supply 
his wants. Now and then, too, we are told of " faith 
cures." They are called such because they are accom- 
plished, it is claimed, without the use of means. The patient 
trusts God to do the work. So, in the matter of salvation, 
sinners are exhorted to " only believe." All effort on their 
part is discouraged. They must be saved by faith, and 
human endeavor is a manifestation of weak faith. Perfect 
faith holds its arms and waits, trusting God to do the work 
in his own good time. 



94 SAFETY IN SHIPWRECK. 

Such theories lack the element of common sense. They 
are pernicious. Worse than all, they are unscriptural and 
anti- scriptural. I respectfully submit that Paul was a man 
of quite as great faith as any of these modern teachers, and 
yet his vigilance and prompt efforts to save himself and 
others, employing ordinary means to do it, were not incon- 
sistent with his faith. Divine promise finds its fulfilment 
through human effort, wherever that is available. "The 
thought of this proposition underlies his theology and his 
conduct. 

2. Or, had Paul been like others of our day, he would 
have said, "Let God have all the glory. He has granted me 
a vision and has given me a sure promise. The danger 
was very great. Hope perished. . The danger now is immi- 
nent. The sea is wild with rage and the sound of the breakers 
is as the sound of doom. Yet God is able to save us. Let 
him get great glory to his name and magnify his power in 
the presence of these heathen. I will stand with folded arms. 
No effort will I make. All the glory shall be his." Paul 
might have so said ; but, it is certain, he did not. 

Yet we are taught in our day that to put forth effort to 
save ourselves is to become our own saviors. That if the 
sinner makes any effort, or does anything looking towards 
his recovery from sin and its dreadful consequences, his sal- 
vation ceases to be a matter of grace, and he takes the glory 
from God. I flatly deny the correctness of this conclusion. 
As to the glory, — I hold there is more given to God in the 
doctrine of man's free agency and responsibility than in the 
doctrine of his passivity. Do you suppose Paul and the few 
brethren who were with him, felt any less grateful when they 
reached the shore in safety, as they did, than they would have 
felt had they been rescued without effort on their part? 
And, can you suppose that when the struggling saint stands 



SAFETY IN SHIPWRECK. 95 

safe within the vail he will restrain one note of praise be- 
cause he struggled along the rugged way. 

3. The fact is this : God saves by rendering needed aid. 
He does what we cannot do. This all readily recognize in 
the realms lying beyond the range of matters religious. 
God gives man his daily bread, and yet "in the sweat of his 
brow ' ' he gains it. What would you think of the farmer 
who would enter his closet in the spring and remain there 
praying God to give him abundant harvests, and yet do no 
work ? Or, here is a young man who desires wisdom and 
knowledge. He prays for it, but does not study. Or, 
again, here is a young girl who longs for skill at the piano, 
but she will not practice. She has faith, and prays and trusts 
that God will give her skill. "What do you think of these? 
The truth of the matter is that when we take these theories 
away from religious interests and apply them to the affairs 
of every-day life, they appear absurd. We exercise more 
common sense and sound judgment in ordinary matters than 
in religious. 

4. If what L have presented be true, then there are three 
doctrines, at least, which must go down. 

The doctrine that all men will be saved goes down. It 
cannot be true, if there is human agency in salvation, for not 
all will make the effort. 

The doctrine of arbitrary choice and eternal decrees goes 
down, for that wholly and distinctly repudiates the agency of 
man in his salvation. 

The doctrine of passivity goes down, for that affirms that 
man is absolutely unable to do anything. 

Well, let them go down. If they sink into utter oblivion 
the world has lost nothing worth holding. No truth, no 
light, no comfort, no strength, no help has been lost. Let 
them go down and let the light of revelation and the dictates 



96 



SAFETY IN SHIPWRECK. 



of sound common sense come up. Let them go down, for 
they have been a hinderance to many, O, my brother man, 
if you have been saying salvation is of God in such a sense 
that it lies wholly beyond the reach of your efforts ;. if you 
have been saying the entire work has been done, so that 
•nothing remained for you to do ; if you have been saying 
you are unable, and are yet waiting for some power to be 
given you of God, cast away these delusions and hear the 
spirit calling, " Save yourself ; " "flee for refuge ! " 



THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath 
faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or 
sister be naked or destitute of daily food, and one of you should 
say unto them, Depart in peace ; be ye warmed and filled ; notwith- 
standing ye give them not those things which are needful to the 
body, what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is 
dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith and I 
have works ; show me thy faith without thy works and I will show 
you my faith by my works. — James ii : 14-18. 

We are required not only to believe, but to manifest our 
faith to the world. God does not permit any one to hide 
his faith. It is something too precious to be concealed. 
Though the exhibition of it should bring upon us the hatred 
of men, and lead us through bitter persecution, even to a 
violent death, still we are required to confess and deny not. 
Moreover, a strong, living faith cannot consent to be silent. 
It cannot live shut up in one's heart. It must out. It will 
show itself. When a genuine faith takes hold upon us we 
are compelled to speak and to act under its directions. It 
will not suffer us to be idle. It enthrones itself in the 
heart, and then, by the words of the lips and the works of 
the hands it proclaims its presence and its power. We can- 
not be possessed of a living faith without at the same time 
being characterized by obedient lives. Faith alone is dead. 
It cannot benefit any one. 

The comparison in the text is obvious and striking. The 
sense of this Scripture is, that, faith in itself, without the 
acts fitly corresponding to it, and to which it would prompt, 
is as cold, and heartless, and unmeaning as it would be to 
s iy to one who is destitute of the necessaries of life, " de- 

7 (97) 



y» THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 

part in peace ; be warmed and filled," and not give them the 
things which are needed. Faith is not, and cannot be 
shown to be genuine, saving faith, unless it be accompanied 
with corresponding acts ; just as our good wishes for the 
poor and needy (when we have it in our power to help) can- 
not be shown to be genuine but by actually ministering to 
their necessities. He who refuses to give to the needy, when 
he is able to do it, shows, beyond a doubt, that he has no 
genuine sympathy for them, although his profession of S} T m- 
pathy may be very great ; so he who does not work, shows 
that he has not genuine saving faith, though he may lay 
great claim to it. 

But what kind of works is to be given and accepted as 
proof of faith? Clearly, those works which spring from 
faith and can be produced by nothing; else. There are many 
good works which may exist, and actually do exist, where 
there is no faith. An infidel may be generous, liberal, kind, 
affectionate and philanthropic. The natural and noble im- 
pulses in men often bring forth good fruit to bless others. 
Such works, therefore, cannot certainly prove the presence 
and power of faith within us, since they often are where 
faith evidently is not. Faith, however, is not in the least 
opposed to such good works, but by strengthening the good 
already within, makes us abound more and more in doing 
good to all men as we have opportunity. We may become 
so fruitful in self-sacrifices for the good of others as to leave 
little room to doubt the genuineness or strength of our faith. 
A man who lives by faith will be more affectionate and for- 
bearing in his f amity, more sympathetic and charitable 
toward the poor and needy ; more willing and gracious in 
forgiving, and more ready to expend his energies and his 
means in every good word and work. 

There are works, however, which spring from faith, and 



THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. Vu 

which can be produced by nothing else ; and these, after all, 
must furnish the clearest proofs of the presence of faith. 
These works may be classified under one general head — 
works of obedience. Faith looks up to God and is guided 
by him. It' resolutely and persistently rejects all other 
guides. To it, God's will is the highest law possible. But 
it is not sufficient to say, in this general way, that the works 
which furnish the best proof of faith are works of obedi- 
ence. This is sufficiently exact, but is not sufficiently 
minute and specific. Let us descend into a more detailed 
description of some of their characteristics, and illustrate 
our meaning by incidents in the lives of those who have lived 
by faith. I do not undertake, however, to point out all the 
marks peculiar to these works, nor do I hold that all the fea- 
tures of them which I may present are to be seen in any one 
single act of faith. 

1. Where there is no apparent reason for doing the 
thing commanded, and where we are, therefore, compelled to 
do it simply and alone because God has commanded it. 
Were any other reason apparent, save the fact that God has 
commanded it, then that other reason might be the motive 
which prompts us to do it, and hence the doing of it could 
not certainly prove our faith. For instance, when Abram 
was commanded to leave his native land, and go forth, he 
knew not where nor why, he obeyed the divine injunction 
and thus gave proof of his faith. There was no apparent 
reason why he should leave his home and become an exile. 
No doubt he loved his kindred and the land of his birth. He 
saw no reasonable prospect of improving his circumstances 
by seeking a new place. Why then should he go ? Why did 
he go ? For this reason, and for this alone : God had com- 
manded him to do it. Again, when, many years after this, 
God said: " Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom 



100 THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 

thou lovest, and get the into the land of Moriah ; and offer 
him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains 
which I will tell thee of " — what reason could have induced 
him to do this ? There were many apparent reasons why he 
should not, but there was only one reason why he should. 
God had commanded it. Of this there could be no doubt. 
The command was emphatic and specific. He obeyed simply 
and alone because God had commanded. What higher 
reason could any one have? Faith says this is the very 
highest possible. 

2. Where there is no apparent connection between the thing 
commanded and the end to be gained. A certain end is to be 
accomplished. We are commanded to do certain things in 
order to reach this. But there is not the most remote con- 
nection, so far as we can see, between the end and the 
means. They are not related to each other as cause to 
effect. Take, as an illustration of this, the capture of the 
city of Jericho. That city was taken by faith. We read, 
that, "by faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they 
were compassed about seven days." But how does it appear 
that the taking of that city was an act of faith ? The Israel- 
ites took many other cities, and they took them, too, in 
obedience to God's command, yet these other cases are not 
mentioned as acts of faith. What is there peculiar to this, 
which marks it as an evidence of faith? Evidently, this, 
that there was no apparent connection between the means to 
be employed and the end to be gained. God said to Joshua, 
" Ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round 
about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And 
seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of 
rams' horns : and the seventh day ye shall compass the city 
seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast 



THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 101 

with the rams' horns, and when ye hear the sound of the 
trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout : and 
the walls of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall 
ascend up every man straight before him." This was the 
divine plan for the siege. But in all the history of wars, and 
in all the science of warfare, who had ever adopted such a 
plan? What apparent connection between the means and 
the end ? The adoption of the plan was a trial and a triumph 
of their faith. Their own judgment and experience would 
certainly have suggested some plan more apparently rational. 
But God intended they should walk by faith, and so while 
he clearly presents the end to be accomplished, and reveals 
in detail the means to be employed, he hides from sight and 
from reason the link which unites the one to the other. We 
may find, in the conclusion of this discourse, that he some- 
times applies to our faith the same severe test. 

3. Where there is no apparent necessity for doing the thing 
commanded, and where reason and experience pronounce it 
foolish. The faith of Noah furnishes a striking illustration 
of this. He was a man of remarkable faith. "By faith, 
Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved 
with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house ; by 
the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the 
righteousness which is by faith.'' What necessity presented 
itself? What signs of a universal deluge ? What reason for 
expecting one? What, in his own experience, or his research 
into the experience of those who had lived before him, 
could suggest even the probability of a coming flood? 
What prophecy in the movement of the waters above 
the firmament or what ominous sign in the movement 
of those beneath? None! For sixteen centuries man 
had lived upon the earth, and there had been no deluge. 
The earth had moved steadily on in its appointed course. 



102 THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 

The seasons had come and gone in their regular order. 
There had been sunshine and shower, making fruitful fields. 
The sowing at seed-time had been followed by the gathering 
of the golden grain at the time for the harvest. The laws 
of nature are moving on with their usual exactness and are 
producing their uniform results. But God said to him, 
"Behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the 
earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, 
from under heaven. " He commanded him to build an ark. 
He gave Mm the dimensions therefor, and told him of what 
material he should make it. Now, see him prove his faith. 
He goes to work doing as God had directed him. The 
ignorant laugh at him. He works on. Away up in the high 
land he is felling trees. He says he is preparing to build a 
great vessel. There is no large body of water near, but he 
sa} T s he intends to build it right there. They call him crazy. 
He works on. He tells them a great flood is coming, by 
which both lowland and highland will be covered. He 
exhorts them to repent. They mock him and turn away. 
Their wise men seek to instruct him. They tell him there 
never has been a flood. They lecture him upon the uniformity 
of the operation of the laws of nature. They argue that 
such a flood is a physical impossibility. But he answers all 
this by telling them what God has said, and works on. 
Years come and go. There are yet no signs of the fulfil- 
ment of the prophecy. Still he preaches to the people and 
works on. O, the patience, and. the long suffering and the 
heroism of his faith ! Ridicule, and wit, and sarcasm, and 
logic, and science, and philosophy, and everything, brought 
against him — nobody is converted, and nobody pays him 
for his preaching — yet, he preaches on and works on! 
O, for a faith like that! 

4. Faith endeavors to do everything God commands, and 



THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 103 

to do it exactly as God commands it to be done. This is an 
important feature of genuine faith. When faith affirms that 
the will of God is the highest law possible, it teaches, at the 
same time, by necessary implication at least, that there is no 
other power or authority in heaven or upon earth which can 
excuse us from obedience to that will as it is expressed in 
the very least of all Ins commandments. If God's will is 
supreme and universal law, then, that will, so far as revealed 
to us, must be supreme law to us, in matters both great and 
small. If he has right to command that anything be done, 
then, clearly, he has right to tell exactly how it shall be 
done, and if he condescends to give the details of. the man- 
ner in which it shall be done, then faith will, with the same 
diligence and energy, seek to follow out the details and 
specific directions, that it employs in accomplishing the gen- 
eral end. Let us recur, for a moment, to the faith of Noah. 
He was commanded not only to build an ark, but God gave 
him specific directions as to its size, proportions, and the 
materials of which it. should be made. Now, his faith is 
shown perhaps more in the exactness with which he followed 
out all the details than in his obedience to the general com- 
mand to build an ark. Again, when Moses had received 
instructions to build the tabernacle, God said, "See that 
thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee 
in the mount." It was, therefore, as clearly his du'y to 
make it according to the pattern as it was to make it at all. 
This point must be clear. So, at least, it appears to me. 

Before leaving this point, however, let me indicate one or 
two applications of it. First, its bearing upon the theory 
of essentials and non-essentials. This distinction arises, I 
apprehend, from a failure to draw the line accurately which 
marks the boundary between the province of faith and the 
province of reason. Reason may be employed in deciding 



H>1 THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 

whether God has commanded me to do a certain thing. 
But it cannot, without being guilty of usurpation, go further 
and undertake to decide whether it is essential or not, and 
thus decide whether it is binding or not. A strong and intel- 
ligent faith protests against such usurpation and ignores all 
such classifications of divine law. A second application of 
this point is tothe popular idea of Christian charity. There 
is certainly great need of charity, and there is a legitimate 
field for its exercise. But I submit that those cases, in 
which God clearly tells us both what to do and how to do it, 
cannot properly be included in this field. In such cases 
there is no room left for us to be charitable, or uncharitable ; 
liberal, or illiberal. The only question is whether we will be 
faithful or faithless. When once it has been decided that a 
command has been given to us by divine authority, then 
whether it be great or small, apparently important or unim- 
portant, in harmony with the dictates of reason or above rea- 
son, necessary or apparently unnecessary, a genuine and 
intelligent faith urges us to obey, and to perform the duty 
with scrupulous exactness. 

5. In the last place I notice this test of faith: Where the 
thing commanded requires great self-denial, and self-sacrifice. 
This may be regarded as a test of the strength of faith. 
It is equally a test of its genuineness. The greater the diffi- 
culties which lie in our way, the brighter shines that faith 
which enables us to surmount them. The darkness of the 
night brings out the stars, <and so the trials and difficulties 
of life cause our faith to shine with unusual lustre. How 
often may we see this ? Time would fail me to mention the 
illustrations of it which appear on the pages of the history 
of God's people in all ages — of the martyrs and confessors 
who were tortured, not accepting deliverance, who had trials 
of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, bonds 



THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 105 

and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn 
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wan- 
dered about in sheepskins and goatskins ; being destitute, 
afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy). 
They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens 
and caves of the earth. 

Faith led Saul of Tarsus to turn from his friends and ad- 
mirers, and the bright prospect of earthly honor opening be- 
fore him and to condemn himself to perpetual exile. He 
was a despised and homeless wanderer on the earth. He 
was troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; he was per- 
plexed, but not in despair ; persecuted, but not forsaken ; 
cast down, but not destroyed. The faith which led him 
through the furnace of fiery trial sustained him. God never 
forsakes those who are faithful to him. When the three 
Hebrew children were cast into the white blazing fire of the 
furnace God did not take them out, but he did that which 
was much better. He came down and walked with them 
through its flames. So lie will do with us, my brethren, if 
only we walk by faith. We can endure anything if Christ 
be with us. 

Faith led Moses to forsake royal honors, the pleasures of 
the palace, the treasures of Egypt, and the high social 
standing of the house' of the Pharoahs, and to identify him- 
self with the poor enslaved people of God. He endured as 
seeing him who is invisible. It caused faithful old Abram 
to offer his son, his beloved Isaac, in obedience to God's 
command. O, how much stood in his way ! With a father's 
warmest affection he loved that boy. Must he now offer 
him as a burnt offering? It was morally wrong to kill. 
Must he slay his own son? Moreover, God had promised 
that through Isaac his seed should become as the sands upon 



106 THE MANIFESTATION OV FAITH. 

the sea shore, and as the stars in the heavens — innumer- 
able — must all this fail ? Can faith surmount all these diffi- 
culties? It did. I do not know how theologians classify 
his faith — whether it was evangelical, or historical, or faith 
in the mere words — I don't know, and less do I care — but 
give me just such a faith. 

Having described and illustrated some of the features of 
those works which furnish the highest proof of the presence 
and power of faith within, let me hasten to a conclusion, b} T 
making a brief application of these principles to present 
duties. Not only in living the Christian life, but also in com- 
ing to Christ for the pardon of our sins and adoption into the 
family of God, we must walk by faith. The first question 
to be answered is always this, What does God say? What 
are the commandments of Christ ? What is the divinely ap- 
pointed way of coming to the Savior? What are the condi- 
tions of admission into the Church of Christ? After a care- 
ful study of the teaching of Christ and the practice of. his 
apostles, I present this answer : First, you are required to 
believe, with all your heart, on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Second, you are required to repent of all your sins. Third, 
you are required to confess with your mouth the faith of your 
heart; and in the fourth place, you are required to be bap- 
tized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Spirit. These are the divine requirements, and this 
the divine order. All these are for, or in order to the remis- 
sion of sins. 

For proof and illustration of this I refer you to Christ's 
conversation "with Nicodemus (Johniii: 5), to the great com- 
mission given to the apostles (Matt. xxviii:19; Mark 
xvi : 15, 16 ; Luke xxiv : 46, 47) ; to the conversion of the three 
thousand on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii: 37, 38) ; to the 



THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 107 

conversion of the Samaritans under the preaching of Philip 
(Acts viii:12); to the conversion of the Ethiopian (Acts 
viii: 35-39); to the conversion of Saul (Acts ix:l-18; 
xxii : 16) ; to the conversion of Cornelius (Acts x : 44-48) ; to 
the conversion of Lydia (Acts xvi : 14, 15) ; v to the conversion 
of the Philippian jailer (Acts xvi : 25-34) ; to the conversion 
of the Corinthians (Acts xviii : 8) ; to what Paul wrote to his 
brethren in Rome about the' faith of the heart and the con- 
fession with the mouth (Rom. x:10) ; and finally, to what 
he wrote to these same persons about having been made free 
from sin through obedience (Rom. vi: 17-18). I submit 
these Scriptures without argument. How, now, may we show 
our faith ? 

1. By striving to do all that God requires. If there are 
four steps required we will not take three and then stop. 
The Israelites were required to march around the walls of 
Jericho once every day for six consecutive days, and then on 
the seventh to march around them seven times, and then 
when they heard the sound of the trumpet they were to raise 
a loud shout. When all this was done they could rest as- 
sured that God would fulfil his promise. But would it have 
done for them to march around the city only once on the 
seventh day, and then having raised the shout expect God 
to fulfil his promise? Could they have claimed it ? Would 
they have shown their faith while thus manifestly disregard- 
ing divine directions ? Why march around the city for seven 
days ? Why march around it seven times on the seventh day ? 
Yea, why march around it at all? There can be only this 
answer : God said do it. But would he not have delivered 
the city into their hands if they had encompassed it only 
once on the seventh day ? I do not know. I know that in 
such an event they would have had no right to claim the f ul- 



108 THE MANIFESTATION" OF FAITH. 

filment of the promise. I know still farther that faith would 
not lead them to try such an experiment. 

2. By striving to do it just as God has ordained it should 
be done. Faith seeks neither substitutions nor modifications 
of ordinances. It asks for the divine mode, and having 
found it ; it clings to it. Now, Christ has ordained Christian 
baptism. Sinners are commanded to be baptized before they 
are received into the kingdom of Christ. The command is not 
generic, but specific. One certain, definite thing is com- 
manded. Faith seeks to find what that one, definite act is, 
and having found it resolutely rejects all proposed substitu- 
tions. What, therefore, is baptism? It will not do to trifle 
with this question. What do we know about the primitive 
practice? We know that those who went out to hear the 
preaching of John the Baptist, were "baptized of him in 
the river Jordan." (Mark 1:5.) We know that after this 
John baptized in Enon, near to Salim, "because there was 
much water there." (John iii: 23.) We know that after 
Jesus was baptized he " went up straightway out of the 
water. ' ' (Matt, iii : 16 . ) We know that when Philip went to 
baptize the Ethiopian nobleman, ,; they went down both into 
the water, both Philip and the eunuch," and after the baptism 
they came up out of the water. (Acts viii : 38, 39. ) We know 
that Paul, writing of this ordinance says, "we are buried 
with him by baptism." (Rom. vi: 4.) We know that in 
another place he says, " buried with him in baptism, wherein 
ye are risen with him." (Col. ii : 12. ) These are some of the 
things which all may know if the}' will read. Now, put 
them together and what do we have ? We have going to a 
river, or place where there, is much water, a going down into 
the water, a burial, a resurrection, and a coming up straight- 
way out of the water. This is the divine w T ay. We must 



THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 109 

show our faith by accepting the divine way, and persistently 
rejecting all proposed substitutions. 

3. We may show our faith by obeying when there is no 
apparent connection between the things commanded and the 
result to be secured ; between the means to be employed and 
the end to be gained. Now in the case before us the result 
to be secured is the forgiveness of past sins. The things 
commanded are faith, repentance, confession and baptism. 
Not one of these alone, but all of these together are for 
remission of sins. But is there any apparent connection 
between the end and the means? Is there between faith 
and forgiveness? between repentance and forgive- 
ness? between confession of Christ and forgive- 
ness? Were I to answer these in the affirmative per- 
haps few, if any, would object to the answer. I now ask, is 
there any apparent connection between Christian baptism 
and the forgiveness of sins ? I answer most emphatically, 
No! But is there any connection? Have they been joined 
together by the divine will ? Has baptism been commanded 
for salvation or in order to the remission of sins ? The word 
of God only can answer this. In Mark xvi:16, Christ says, 
" he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;" and in 
his conversation with Nicodemus he said, "Except a man 
be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God." When those on the day of Pentecost 
cried out, " Men and brethern, what must we do? " Peter, 
answering said: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of 
you, in the name of Christ for the remission of sins." I 
might add passage after passage to the same effect. These 
are enough. The baptism of a pffcper subject is for the re- 
mission of sins. This makes baptism a test of faith. It 
must be an act of faith. The connection between faith, re- 



110 THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. 

pentance, confession, and baptism, and the forgiveness of 
sins, is no more apparent than was the connection between 
marching around the city of Jericho and the falling of its 
walls. 

4. Show } T our faith by following Christ in his appointed 
ways, great as may be the self-denial and sacrifice required. 
We are not threatened with persecution now as were those 
who followed Christ during the infancy of the Church. I 
thank God that we are not. But there is self-denial and 
sacrifice even now in being a true disciple. 

O for that faith which saA r s : — 

"In all my Lord's appointed ways, 
My journey I'll pursue, 
Hinder me not, you much loved saints, 

For I must go with you. 
Through floods and flames, if Jesus lead, 
F 11 follow where he goes." 

Begin to follow Christ now. Begin the work of faith to- 
night. Our glorious Lord and King is coming. It is writ- 
ten, "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to 
give to every man according as his work shall be." "The 
Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count 
slackness ; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that 
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in 
the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and 
the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth also and 
the works that are therein shall be burned up." You may 
not believe this, but it is true. It is God's truth. Men 
would not believe Noah. When he warned them, they laughed 
and mocked him. They said: "Has such a thing ever 
been ? What sign is there in the heavens above, or the earth 



THE MANIFESTATION OF FAITH. Ill 

beneath?" That did not change God's truth. At last the 
time came. It was the day of doom. The Ark was closed. 
Then were the windows of heaven opened and the fountains 
of the great deep were broken up, and the earth became one 
mighty, boundless, shoreless sea. The same God who fore- 
told the deluge of waters and told Noah to preach, now 
foretells the deluge of fire and bids me call you to the Ark 
of Safety. That Ark is Christ. The way to him stands open 
to-night. "Who will come ? Who will enter in and be saved ! 



THE EXTERIOR AND THE INTERIOR OF OUR 
DEEDS. 

Though I give all my goods to feed the poor * * * and have 
not charity it profiteth me nothing. — I. Cor. xiii: 3. 

Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, 
because you belong to Christ, verily I say unto you he shall not 
lose his reward. — Mark ix • 41. 

The New Testament deals with the most profound and 
delicate ethical questions with the qu;et air of perfect confi- 
dence. It develops a system of ethics peculiar to itself, 
both in its doctrines and in its methods of statement. For 
it is not elaborated into the philosophic formula of the 
schools, nor arranged according to scientific methods, but 
its doctrines are embodied in examples and illustrations scat- 
tered here and there through the volume of the book. 

The texts just read are expressions of the divine judg- 
ment concerning human conduct. The first comes to us 
from Paul ; the second is from Christ. 

They form a striking antithesis. In the first we see a man 
of wealth scattering his goods among the poor until he is 
himself a pauper; in the second, only an ordinary act of 
hospitality — the simplest and easiest — that of giving a cup 
of water to the thirsty. But, great as is the antithesis of 
of the acts themselves, it is surpassed by the startling an- 
tithesis between the sentences of divine estimate pronounced 
upon them. Of the first it is said, "It profiteth me 
nothing," while of the Second Christ says, "Verily, I say 
unto you he shall not lose his reward." How striking the 
contrast ! 
(112) 



THE EXTERIOR AND THE INTERIOR OF OUR DEEDS. 113 

We instinctively ask, What reason can justify these sen- 
tences ? If any reward be given why not make it propor- 
tionate to the amount done? Both acts are good, 
apparently. They belong to the same class — that of giving 
to the. needy. The one gives a fortune to the hungry; the 
other a cup of water to the thirsty. Yet the giving of the 
cup is lifted above the giving of the fortune. If we look 
upon the acts only, ignoring what lies behind them, every 
one must feel this is not equitable. 

It is not, until we remember there are two sides to every 
deed, that we are prepared to solve this difficulty. There is 
that which we see, and there is that which lies concealed 
from human sight. There is the thing done, and the motive 
which prompts it ; the form of the deed, and its incentive ; 
its body and its spirit ; its exterior and its interior. Every 
just moral judgment must recognize both. When this prin- 
ciple is applied to the cases we are considering we ma.y 
understand why God lifts the giving of a cup of water 
above the giving of a fortune. Considered as to their ex- 
terior only both deeds are good and worthy of praise. It 
is not until we pass below the surface of the things done 
and weigh the motives out of which they sprang 
that we can see that the divine judgment in these cases 
is equitable. "Though I give all my goods to feed the poor, 
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." See how the 
motive is uncovered and how sentence is pronounced in view 
of that. Pride may have prompted the gift, or a desire for 
praise, or an unworthy wish to perpetuate his name, or it may 
have been only an effort to rescue a sinking reputation — I 
know not what the real motive was, but I know that the 
right one was wanting. ' 'And have not charity. ' ' Although 
the deed attracted the attention of men, and was thought 
notable and praiseworthy, God, who fully knows the 

8 



114 THE EXTERIOR AND THE INTERIOR OF OUR DEDDS. 

secret springs of actions, saw rottenness in its heart. On 
the other hand, while the giving of water to the thirsty re- 
ceived no recognition from others, and was probably soon 
forgotten by the recipient, Christ marks in the book of re- 
memberance, and says the giver shall not lose his reward. 
And notice how in this case also he lays his finger upon the 
motive saying it is done " in my name, because you belong to 
Christ.'" This is the motive, and this it is that brings the 
blessing upon the giver. As said the aged Samuel when he 
stood in the house of Jesse, "The Lord seeth not as man 
seeth, for man looked on the outward appearance, but the 
Lord looketh on the heart." So is it now, and so will it be 
in the day of judgment. 

I think we may understand this matter better, also, if we 
will call to mind the end which God has in view in all he en- 
joins upon us. For he looks not so much to the things done, 
considered in themselves, as to that which is manifested and 
developed by the doing of them. This distinction is real, and 
it is of vital importance. A man, for instance, does not look 
upon his family as he looks upon his factory. The end in view 
in each case is different. He is at the head of an immense 
factory, and he is at the same time the head of a family. 
He looks upon his factory and all connected with it, with a 
business eye. He estimates its worth by the merchandise it 
enables him to place upon the market. What can it turn out 
in tangible results ? He has no special concern about the 
thoughts flying through the minds of the workmen, the pur- 
poses which rise and swell in their hearts as the work goes 
on. Machinery will do as well, if only it gives the same re- 
sults. Frying bands and whirling wheels and buzzing spin- 
dles will do as well. But, when he goes to his home after 
the day's work is done, and looks upon the family group, it 
is with a different eve. He has another end in view. If he 



THE EXTERIOR AND THE INTERIOR OF OL'R DEEDS. 115 

be a wise father and good, he looks not so much to results out- 
ward as to results inward. Those things which tell of love and 
loyalty stand highest with him there. What has been done 
by the children may have no value in the markets, and be 
worthless in the eye of business,. but if the things done tell 
of a loving heart and an obedient spirit and a noble purpose, 
they are good in his f atherly eyes. Here he wishes to see 
love grow, fidelity grow, truthfulness, purity, nobility — all 
that makes exalted manhood and pure and beautiful woman- 
hood — develop and grow strong. So of God. This world 
is not his factoiy, but his great f amity. He looks upon it 
with the eye of a good father. The tasks which he gives us 
are for our development. In the doing of them the heart 
must be rightly exercised. They become the voices of affec- 
tion. All obedience to ordinances, all cross-bearing, all 
self-denial, all forms of all good works are the voices by 
which the heart speaks out its love. All goodness grows by 
doing good out of worthy motives. The giving of the cup of 
water was a voice of the heart, telling of love for Jesus and 
those who are his. This very act made that love stronger. 
It helped the giver, and so, in the eyes of the Father, it was 
good. 

The studjr of these cases this morning has evolved a prin- 
ciple of vital importance. By the analysis of deeds we find 
that to each deed there are two sides ; that God looks upon 
both, and that his estimate in each case is formed in view of 
the motive from which the deed springs. Mark well this 
principle. It is not that good motives may justify bad 
deeds. We are not dealing with that question. It is not 
involved in the texts. Both deeds mentioned in the texts 
were good when considered only as to their exterior. The 
principle is this — good deeds may become void of merit 
through the absence of right motives. Or to put it in another 



116 THE EXTERIOR AND THE INTERIOR OF OUR DEEDS. 

way, the motive is an essential part of every moral act. An 
act should be right not only in its exterior but in its inte- 
rior. This principle is fundamental in its character and 
it is- far-reaching in its application. 

Every student of church , history, every observer of eccle- 
siastical matters in our own times, must have noticed the 
tendency to give undue and almost exclusive attention to the 
exterior of religious observances. Like the Pharisees, we 
are careful to make clean the outside of the platter. What 
is the character of the questions which have been prominent 
and still are prominent about ordinances, about church 
government, about worship, and about everything connected 
with religion? Have not these been questions which deal 
with the outside of such matters ? The form has received 
attention ; the spirit has been ignored as if a thing of little 
worth. 

Take Christian baptism, as an illustration. The one great 
and overshadowing question is, What is it, as to its outward 
form? Such fierce battles have been waged over- this that 
other questions — vital questions — concerning it have been 
forgotten. Learning on this side ; learning on that side ; 
zeal on this side ; zeal on that side. Often bitterness on 
both sides. Now, I am not here to say that to have the 
ordinance right in its form is a matter of no importance. 
Not at all. But I stand here to say, with all possible em- 
phasis, that it may be right in form and yet not be acceptable 
before God. Let us insist on the interior of this solemn act 
being right. In what spirit? From what motive? With 
what purpose of heart? With what devotion to Christ 
Jesus ? These questions need to be brought to the front. 
Though j'-ou may be buried beneath the waves of the Jordan 
itself, yet if thy heart is not right it profiteth thee nothing. 

Or, take the Lord's Supper as an illustration: What are 



THE EXTERIOR AND THE INTERIOR OF OUR DEEDS. 117 

the ritualistic qualifications? That's the great question. 
Men, rotten in heart, depraved in conduct, leprous in char- 
acter may sit down at that table. The emblems maybe par- 
taken of with manifest unconcern. Even levity may be 
overlooked. But, let some devout soul, who may be wanting in 
some formal or ritualistic preparation, reverently and lovingly 
partake, or let one eat beyond the boundaries of the same faith 
and order, and whole communions will be mightily moved. 
We all very well know that in the discussions of the question, 
" Who may partake? " almost exclusive attention is given to 
outward. preparation. We discuss matters of form. We 
give attention to externalities. What kind of bread, leav- 
ened or unleavened ? What kind of wine, fermented or un- 
fermented? What time? Can it, under any circumstances, 
be observed on any day except Sunday ? What kind of a cloth 
should be used to cover the table? The question of " altar 
cloths ' ' claimed earnest attention a few months ago among 
some very good people in this State. It is the old question 
of phylacteries, of borders to garments of mint and annise 
and cummin. I stand by this table on which are the em- 
blems of the body and blood of Christ, and say, "though 
you may be ritualistically right, and though you may have 
just such bread and such wine as was used by our Savior on 
the night on which he was betrayed, and though all forms 
may be faultless unless with loving, reverent hearts you 
eat and drink in memory of Christ, it profiteth you nothing." 
What questions concerning worship have received most 
attention? Are they not those which deal with forms? I 
was with young men during their ministerial studies, who 
held that the posture in pra} T er is an important matter. Not 
a matter of taste, or convenience, or helpfulness. Oh, no. 
It was a vital matter. Only a Pharisee could stand and 
pray. It was an essential matter. Some, if I mistake not, 



118 THE EXTERIOR AND THE INTERIOR OP OUR DEEDS. 

have gone so far as to make it practically a. test of fellow- 
ship. So with the question of music in worship. We are 
to sing. We are to praise God, making melody jn our 
hearts to him. These are the matters which should receive 
attention. But, we practically omit the questions which 
tend to produce greater spirituality in worship, which 
help the heart to devout devotion and are deeply 
concerned over the place where the choir should 
should sit ; books with music, books without music, or no 
books ; tuning-fork or no tuning-fork ; organ or no organ. 
These are the questions which often receive more attention 
than those which deal with the heart. We delight to engage 
in properly adjusting the machinery. I once saw a chart 
designed to show how to worship. It was a curious and 
striking illustration of this point. The doing of certain 
things according to certain forms was worship. It seems to 
me there are many who need to learn that, though we may 
have hymns from the angelic choir, and melodies such as are 
heard in the upper sanctuary, and though we may have forms 
of worship absolutely faultless, and have not love, it profiteth 
us nothing. 

I might go on adding illustration to illustration without 
number, for this principle is fundamental and applies to all 
we do. We need to apply this principle to the questions of 
church government, church organization, and church work. 
They have been bones of contention. I beg } r ou leave such 
bones for those who love dry bones more than spiritual meat. 
Even dogs do not contend when there is an abundance of 
meat. Only over bones do they fight. So with Christians. 
Let us seek to bring into greater prominence inward states 
and the devotion of the heart. Is thy heart right? Is thy 
heart right ? 

This principle needs to be applied also to giving. Though 



THE EXTERTOH AND THE INTERIOR OF OUR DEEDS. 1 19 

you give all, and have not love, it profiteth you nothing. 
others ma} r be profited, but you will not. While on the 
other hand a cup of water rightly given secures a sure 
reward. Much of our giving, even to good works, does not 
bring down upon us the divine blessing. We have fairs and 
feasts and we resort to all manner of devices to induce peo- 
ple to give. The} 7 may be led thus to give and to appear 
liberal, but it profiteth, them nothing. Give first thy heart, 
and let thy heart go ivith all thy gifts. Let giving be worship. 
Like Mary's ointment let it be fragrant with the fragrance 
of the heart. Then wilt thou be doubly blest — blessed in 
the giving and blessed Jor the giving. 

I close with a word of caution. I fear one thing may 
result from this sermon which may prove injurious to some. 
I fear there may be some one who, while I insist upon giving 
due attention to the interior of our deeds, will swing to the 
extreme of totally ignoring their exterior. This I would 
guard against. The thing' done — the form — is important. 
If your heart is right } r ou will be anxions to do the right 
thing in the right way. -Get the heart right. Give that. 
Let all jow. do be the expressions of the heart. Love more. 
Do more good. Live in fellowship with God, and verily I 
sav unto thee thou shalt not lose thy reward. 



THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 

Audi, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 
This he said, signifying what death he should die. —John xii : 32-33. 

The " if " in this text is not to be taken as expressive of 
doubt. Christ knew from the beginning of his ministry 
that he would be crucified. In his conversation with Nico- 
demus, which occurred in the early part of his ministry, 
3'ou remember he said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." 
In the latter part of his ministry he spoke plainly and 
repeatedly to his disciples of his death by violence, saying, 
" The Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests 
and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 
and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to 
scourge, and to crucify him." And not only did he fore- 
know the nature of his death, but he understood beforehand 
its profound significance as a fact in the government of God, 
and its essential worth in the solution of the problem of 
man's redemption. To Nicodemus he explained that he 
should be lifted up so " that whosoever believed on him 
should not perish, but have eternal life." 

When he uttered the language of the text he was near the 
time of his crucifixion, and the shadow of the cross which 
had rested upon his heart all the while, now casts a deeper 
gloom. It was Tuesday ; on Friday he must die. The 
context reveals in some degree the sorrow which even then 
he felt flooding his heart, — " Now is my soul troubled ; and 
what shall I say T ? Father, save me from this hour? but for 
( 120 ) 






THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 121 

this cause came I unto this hour. ' ' He had already entered 
upon his great baptism of suffering. To me there is a 
sacredness in any great sorrow, and especially in the great 
sorrow of our Savior and this sacredness attaches itself to 
this text. With tender touch and loving hearts let us seek 
to unfold its meaning — for I feel it is full of meaning and 
redolent of love. 

1. Jesus herein declares his purpose to unite men of every 
race and rank into one harmonious and fraternal bond, by 
drawing them to one common centre. " I will draw all 
men," not in the sense that each one of the entire race will 
actually be drawn to him, but that from all classes, and 
conditions, and nations I will draw. 

It was the request of the Greeks to see him that called 
forth the response of the text. For ' ' there were certain 
Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast ; 
the same came therefore to Philip, saying, ' Sir, we would 
see Jesus.' " As Philip was the only one among the twelve 
who had a pure Greek name, it is supposed that he was of 
that blood, and that this was probably the reason they 
approached him with their request to see the new teacher, 
now attracting so much attention. This request was pre- 
sented to the Master by Philip and Andrew, and it awoke 
within him thoughts of his atoning death upon the cross and 
the world-wide provisions of his grace. I will be lifted up, 
but not for the Jew alone. That uplifting will be the widen- 
ing of my work and mission. It will possess an attraction 
over the wide world — to civilized and savage, learned and 
illiterate, Greek and Jew alike. It will break down opposi- 
tion, and form out of the most heterogeneous and discordant 
materials a kingdom of surpassing glory. 

This purpose marks the opening of a new era in the 



122 



THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 



religious history of the world. Not only was the purpose 
unparalleled, but the thought was new. No religious 
teacher prior to this had even suggested such a thing. All 
other religions were etherical. Each nation had its. gods 
and its system of religion, as it had its laws and its system 
of government. Even the divinely-given religion of the Jew 
was never intended for any other than the chosen nation. It 
was limited in its provisions, its application and its territory. 
Butthe religion to be established by Jesus was designed for 
the whole world. Its Author proposed it as the religion for 
the race. It is catholic in spirit, its provisions are univer- 
sal, its field is the world. Nor was this an ambition kindled 
within it after its splendid victories made universal dominion 
appear possible, but in the hour of comparative obscurity 
did its founder entertain and declare this great purpose ! 

It was so new, so unlike anything the world had ever 
known or heard before, that his immediate disciples and 
their early converts were slow to apprehend and understand 
it. They seemed to regard it as a revision and enlargement 
of Judaism. The story of Peter's vision on the housetop in 
Joppa, and of the commotion and controversy occasioned by 
his visit to the house of Cornelius, and the history of the 
Jerusalem council, reveal to us how slowly the light dawned 
upon their minds. The development of his catholic purpose 
met with verj T strong opposition from his own followers then ; 
and, sad to say, in different ways it has experienced the 
same opposition from his professed followers since. And 
even now we are slow to understand the riches of his grace, the 
wideness of his mercy, and the catholicny of his purpose. The 
narrowness and bigotry of man is like the little land-locked sea 
of Galilee, which is shut in from all the world, and its waves 
wash the shores of no land but its own ; while divine mercy 



THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 123 

is like the Great Sea, bearing upon its bosom the commerce 
of the world, and with its blue waves it washes the shores of 
all the nations. 

There's a wideness in God's mercy, 

Like the wideness of the sea; 
There's a kindness in his justice, 

Which is more than Liberty. 
For the love of God is broader 

Than the measures of man's mind ; 
And the heart of the Eternal 

Is most wonderfully kind. 

In the broad philanthrophy of Christ is an argument for his 
divinity. Whence came this gracious, catholic purpose, set 
forth in the text? We know that the age, the country, the 
education, the society of early years exert a wonderful 
moulding influence over every one. The seeds of that 
definite form and character which we eventually assume will 
be found to lie within our early history. But Jesus was 
born and reared in the midst of a nation and at a time pro- 
verbial for religious bigotry. By natural birth a Jew, trained 
from infancy by a Jewess, a regular attendant of their syna- 
gogues and their temple service, how came he to be the 
founder of a religion so broad in its philanthrophy, so catholic 
in its spirit? His gracious purposes strongly suggest, if 
they do not fully demonstrate, that he came forth from the 
bosom of the universal Father. The Father of our race, 
must be the Father of Christ, its lover and Savior. 

The nature of his kingdom is new. He forms it into a 
perfect union by drawing each one to a common centre. It 
was formed and is governed by the power of attraction. 
There had been universal dominions before his day, bu$ they 
were formed and sustained by the force of arms. 
That which he proposes to establish is, like our solar 



124 THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 

system, to be held in unity and harmony by a hidden 
power which holds each part to a common centre. 
Nor does he propose to destroy all individual peculiarities. 
Mercury and Venus and Mars and Jupiter and Saturn 
retain their features of individuality, and yet they harmoni- 
ously combine to form one system. Then, too, some are 
much nearer their central sun than others. And, yet, each 
fills its appropriate place. It is a grave mistake to suppose 
that the union which should characterize the kingdom of 
Christ among men is a dead, a slavish uniformity. Great 
variety is consistent with perfect unity. 

It is important for us to know, since this is the character 
of his kingdom, exactly what that centre is toward which all 
are drawn and around which each revolves along his appointed 
course. Should we suppose that to be this centre which is 
not the centre, confusion must appear even though harmony 
prevails. So it was with the old astronomers. They sup- 
posed the earth was the centre of the system to which it be- 
longs. Upon this supposition other parts appeared to be 
deranged. When, however, they found the sun to be the 
common centre perfect harmony appeared. So, should we 
suppose any creed or doctrine or ordinance or theory of 
church organization, or a special interpretation of any pas- 
sage of Scripture, to be the centre when, in fact, it is not, all 
would appear to be in fearful discord- We are not left, 
however, to grope in a vain search for this centre of gravita- 
tion and government in the spiritual kingdom on earth. The 
text states it — "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men 
tome." 

2. Jesus Christ is himself the centre, and personal, heart- 
felt attachment to him is the controlling principle in the 
life, as it is also the final test of Christian character. The 
basis of Christianity is not a theory, nor a system of formu- 



THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 125 

lated doctrines, but it is a person. In Christianity, Christ is 
the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first 
and the last. Its two great questions are, " What think you 
of Christ? " and "What, then, shall I do with Jesus? " He 
who in heart and life gives the true answer to these ques- 
tions is a Christian. He has been drawn to Christ and is 
obedient to him as the planets are obedient to the sun. 

A study of the historical development of the church as 
recorded in the New Testament will serve to illustrate and 
demonstrate this. If we go back to the time of the personal 
ministry of our Lord, before the existence of the New Testa- 
ment Scriptures, we see him gathering, chiefly from the 
fishermen of Galilee, the nucleus of the church. He does 
not propound to them a system of abstract truth, as the 
Greek philosophers did, to which he demands their assent; 
nor does he present for their acceptance a plan or constitu- 
tion for the organization of societies to be called churches, 
and call upon them to adopt it and aid him in putting it into 
practical operation, but his simple request was, Follow me. 
He makes himself the centre of a group of personal friends, 
and he is the bond by which they are held together in the 
fellowship of a fraternal band. They loved him, they fol- 
lowed him. Their confidence in him was the cord by which 
they were held. They willingly left all for his sake. Per- 
secutions could not drive them away from one so dear to 
their hearts. This devotion to him was the central principle 
of character in each, and the vital point around which their 
lives developed into spiritual strength and moral beauty. 
They could not, even after three years of discipleship under 
him, have passed an examination in a modern theological 
seminary. Yet during all this time he had been preparing 
them to evangelize the world ! He had not been drilling them 
in dogmatic theology, and the science of church government, 



126 THE UNIFYING POWER OP THE CROSS. 

so much as he had been binding them with multitudinous 
cords to himself. 

At a later period, when they had fully entered upon this 
world-wide mission, we find that everywhere they went they 
preached Jesus. They told the story of his gracious life 
and his sacrificial death over again and again and again, 
and sought to win and to bind the hearts of the people in 
loving devotion to Mm. In him they saw all fullness 
dwelling. Their converts were not converted to doctrines, 
to churches or to men. They were converted to Christ. 
All faith, all obedience, all hope had value only as they 
centred in his person and work. He was the object of sav- 
ing faith as he was the substance of their simple confession 
of faith. He was held before the people as their only 
teacher and guide, and as the one who alone could give rest to 
their weary souls. They were to wear no yoke but his. 
Above all other love should be their love for him. He was 
the living vine into which believers were engrafted, and from 
him they drew the vital current which sustained their spiritual 
life. Paul's experience was also the experience of the 
whole body of believers, — "I am crucified with Christ; 
nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and 
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of 
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." 
Christ was their life. 

It is to be feared that controversy over many other things 
has perverted this simple faith of the early Christians. 
These controversies have lifted minor points into undue 
prominence. Questions concerning divine sovereignty, human 
agency, Christian ordinances, spiritual influence, church gov- 
ernment, and many other matters have grown, through con- 
troversy, to occupy controlling positions in many ecclesias- 
tical organizations. The result has been to displace, in a 



THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 127 

greater or less degree, the simple heart-trust in Christ which 
made the early Christians what they were. It is to be feared 
that most of that which now passes for religion is little 
more than ecclesiastical morality. It is practically Christ- 
less. His loving presence, his sympathetic mediation, his 
kingly authority are obscured by the clouds of this religious 
conflict. 

Then, too, may not we be making a mistake in the method 
of our labors for Christian union? Do we not need to make 
a more practical use of the fact that the only union worthy 
the name is union in Christ? Is it strictly true that the 
Bible is the basis upon which we are to unite ? Would it 
not be much nearer the truth, yea, would it not be the exact 
truth, were we to say that we are to unite around Christ and 
in him? Is not true Christian union first of all a union of 
hearts ? And does not the New Testament teach that in this 
union there may still be harmonious variety? As when from 
the circumference of a circle we advance along its radii 
toward its centre, we must come nearer and nearer together, 
so must we, as Christians, come nearer each other as, from 
our remote positions, we come nearer and nearer to Christ, 
the centre of the spiritual kingdom. "I will draw all men 
to me." It was in this way that the most discordant 
elements in society were harmonized in the first churches. 
They became one in Christ. The Jews and the Gentiles 
were as far from each other as pole from pole, and yet Paul 
could say, in writing to the Ephesians, " But now, in Christ 
Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar off, are made nigh 
by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath 
made both one." From each extreme they drew near to 
Christ, until they became one in him. His attraction was so 
strong that it broke down the middle wall of partition 
between them. If, therefore, we are to succeed in our labor 






128 THE UNIFYING POWER 'OF THE CROSS. 

for union we must rely upon this same attraction. Turn 
individual hearts, with their deepest devotion, to Christ. 
Let his magnetic power sway our own hearts — 

As still to the star of its worship, though clouded, 
The needle points faithfully o'er the dim sea, 

So, dark as I roam through this wintry world shrouded, 
The hope of my spirit turns trembling to thee. 

In his church, Christ himself is the centre, and personal, 
heart-felt devotion to him is the controlling principle in 
Christian life, as it is also the final test of Christian character. 

3. In his atoning death upon the cross, we find the magic 
power which draws the hearts of men, which reconciles dis- 
cordant elements and moulds believers into one fraternal band. 
" And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
to me. This he said, signifying what death he should die." 
Paul finds this attracting power in the bloody tree, saying, 
"Ye who were sometime afar off are made nigh by the blood 
of Christ. " The history of preaching demonstrates the fact 
that the power which wins men to Christ is focalized in the 
cross. German theology is practically without the cross and 
so is shorn of its power. Unitarianism is weak from the 
same cause. Never has there been a preacher, from Paul's* 
day to this, who has done much for the conversion of souls, 
who has not made much of the cross. To the Jews it was a 
stumbling-block ; to the Greeks it was foolishness, but unto 
them who are called Christ crucified is the wisdow of God, 
and the power of God. It is wonderful power. No 
analysis can fully reveal its hidden potency, and yet it may 
be a delight and a help if we hold before us for a while this 
morning a few of its prominent features. 

1. In its revelation of divine love I find power. Love 
draws. Herein is love. God commendeth his love towards us 
in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. In the 
cross I find the genesis of our love for God. For we love him, 



THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 129 

because he first loved us. There are problems which have 
been solved by the cross too profound for my comprehension. 
I do not undertake to expain the deep philosophy of the atone- 
ment. But one thing I do understand, although its fulness 
passeth knowledge. I know that the cross is radiant with 
love. While all tnat Jesus did was but the unfolding and 
expression of his love, yet chiefly in the cross of Calvary do 
I see this love displayed. In the manger at Bethlehem is love 
incarnate ; in the ministry of Jesus is love working ; in the 
scene at the grave of Lazarus is love weeping tears of sym- 
pathy ; in the garden of Gethsemane is love sweating, as it 
were, great drops of blood ; but on the cross is love endur- 
ing the agonies of a fearful death and swelling with a strength 
and fulness that breaks the heart. Here is love that has 
height without top, depth without bottom, length without 
end, breadth without limit. Let us seek with all saints to 
comprehend its fulness. Let us believe in its genuineness 
and reality. It is love that draws us with its silken cords 
and binds us to the cross. 

2. In its revelation of danger and of safety I find power. 
Is there anything in God to fear? I answer yes, and point 
to the cross. That is a revelation of the danger of sin, 
and a fearful demonstration of divine wrath against it. He 
was made sin for us. Every pang he felt was a pang of suf- 
fering for sin. He suffers upon the cross as our substitute. 
That cross stands before the world as God's warning. 

At the same time it is a place of security for us. We flee 
to it for refuge, and are safe. Its blood saves us. As the 
blood that was sprinkled upon the door posts of the Israelites 
in Egyptpreserved from danger all within, on that dreadful 
night when the first born of the Eg} T ptians were smitten by the 
angel of death, so the sprinkling of this blood is our defence 
and shield. Under the seal of Christ's blood we are safe. I 

9 



130 THE UNIFYING POWER OF THE CROSS. 

have been told that out upon those vast prairies of our West- 
ern frontiers, where the grass grows rank and high, there are 
often in the autumn great sweeping fires. The leaping flames 
fly with a swiftness greater than that of the fleetest horse. 
And it is said that, when the frontiersmen see the approaching 
hurricane of flame, they quickly set fire to the grass on their 
leeward side and then take their stand in the place thus 
burned bare, and await in safety the approaching storm. 
Though it sweeeps about them they are safe. The place 
where they stand has already been burned bare. So there is 
one place already burned bare for us. It is Calvary. 
Standing by the cross, when this world shall be wrapped in 
its winding sheet of flame, we shall be safe — perfectly safe. 
There is safety here ; there is safetjr nowhere else. Many 
have fled to it because of its revelation of danger and of 
safety. Will you? It seems to me that when any one comes 
to understand its revelations of love, of danger, and of safety 
they must feel so driven and drsfrwn to it that they cannot 
withstand its power. 

"In the cross of Christ I glory, 

Towering o'er the wrecks of time; 
All the light of sacred story 
Gathers round its head sublime. 

When the woes of life o'ertake me, 

Hopes deceive, and fears annoy, 
Never shall the cross forsake me ; 

Lo! it glows with peace and joy. 

When the sun of life is beaming 

Light and love upon my way, 
From the cross a radiance, streaming, 

Adds more lustre to the day. 

Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, 

By the cross are sanctified ; 
Peace is there beyond all measure 

Joys that through all time abide. " 



PAUL'S CHAPTER ON CHARITY. 

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have 
not cha'rity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries 
and all knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could re- 
move mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though 
I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body 
to be burned, and have not charity it profiteth me nothing. Charity 
suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth 
not itself, is not puffed up, cloth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh 
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil ; rejoiceth not 
in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; beareth all things, believeth 
all thingg, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never 
faileth, but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether 
there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge it 
shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophecy in part 
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part 
shall be done away. When I was a child, 1 spake as a child, I 
understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a 
man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, 
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall 
I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, 
charity — these three ; but the greatest of these is charity. — I. Cor. 
xiii:l-13. 

My text this morning is the entire thirteenth chapter of 
First Corinthians — Paul's popular chapter on charity. And 
I think it speaks well for the heart of religions people gener- 
ally that this chapter is so popular. Perhaps no chapter in 
the entire Bible is more so. And, just as I would say it 
speaks well for the taste of a people to find that that hall in 
a gallery of art, where the best paintings are, is the most 
popular, and to see the largest group standing constantly 
before the finest painting in the entire collection, so here, as 
I see men and women passing through the Bible — God's 

(131) 



132 paul's chapter on charity. 

great gallery of spiritual verities — it speaks well for their 
spiritual taste that this chapter is so universally popular; 
that before Paul's picture of charity there is found such a 
group of ardent admirers. This single fact is full of pleasant 
thoughts for me. 

I think it worthy of passing notice also that this chapter 
was w T ritten by Paul. Had we selected one, from the sacred 
writers of the New Testament, to give us an ode to charity, 
I think we would have united in selecting John. We would 
do this on the ground that men, as a rule, exalt that most 
which is chief in themselves. The aesthetic exalts beauty in 
nature, in letters and in art ; the utilitarian exalts utility, 
and would merge all virtues into that ; while the modern 
epicure, like the ancient, lifts the question of present enjoy- 
ment above every other, and makes pleasure the chief end of 
life. In the character of John, the beloved, love stands high 
above all else. So in hjs writings love is made the inspira- 
tion and the measure of individual Christian life, l4 He that 
loves is of God, for God is love." In the writings of Paul, 
the educated and inspired logician, we find knoidedge holds 
a high place. Having been thoroughly delivered from the 
rigorous thraldom of Phariseeism, his love of liberty in Christ 
is intense ; and yet charity is placed above knowledge and 
liberty even by him. Even Peter, who had so painfully 
learned the lesson of watchfulness and sobriety, also places 
charity above these. This fact is significant. Not only is 
it very strong testimony to the pre-eminence of charity, but 
it contains one of the innumerable evidences of the inspira- 
tion of these writers. Their writings come not from the 
spontaneous outflow of individual temperament, but from 
one common spirit, which, while it does not destroy the indi- 
viduality, so bridles and guides it that all speak the same 
thing. This unity of sentiment in the writings of men so 



Paul's chapter on charity. 133 

different in tendencies points strongly to one common source 
of all they wrote. 

If we take a sweeping view of the entire letter in which 
this chapter is found, its very position is remarkable. This 
is the most severe letter written by Paul. The church at 
Corinth was so split up into parties, it had so grossly per- 
verted the ordinances, and some of its members had fallen 
into such shocking sins, that its condition called for apos- 
tolic censure. He censures the schismatic, pronounces the 
sentence of excommunication against the incestuous, 
reproves brother for going to the civil courts against brother, 
shames them for sins by which they defile their bodies, 
rebukes their licentious use of liberty to the injury of others, 
warns them against idolatry, condemns them sharply for 
their degradation of the Lord's Supper, and upbraids them 
for their unseemly jealousy and rivalry over their varied 
miraculous gifts. He writes as one who had no sympathy 
in his heart, yea, not even a heart within him. It is a 
vigorous warfare against sin and moral apostacy. But, near 
the close of this vigorous attack he pauses, and pours forth 
this tender and beautiful tribute to the intrinsic value and 
practical worth of charity. This chapter falls into the 
midst of the severity of the letter like a May day rrto mid- 
winter. It is as if the snow lying upon the streets and 
house-tops to-day should suddenly vanish, the cold, heavy 
clouds should flee away, the bitter winds sweep back to the 
ice-caves of the North ; and the soft winds of the South, 
fragrant with the breath of the flowers, and joyous with the 
twittering of the birds in the green foliage, should tell us 
that one of the mild days of May was upon us ; and then, 
when it has passed, we swing back into winter. So is this 
chapter among the chapters of this letter. 

In its study I present three points for consideration, 



134 Paul's chapter on charity. 

namely — The full and exact meaning of charity in this 
place ; its value as stated here ; and the best means by which 
we may cultivate it in ourselves. 

I. Wliat is here meant by charity? 

I suppose it may pass without the saying that it does not 
mean alms-giving. I presume also that all know " love " is 
regarded as the best single word in English by which to ren- 
der the Greek word here translated ' ' charit}^. ' ' In this day of 
much-lauded, spurious charity, however, it is needful, I 
think, to note that, 

I. Paul does not mean that easy-going latitudinarianism 
ivhich is bom of indifference and want of conviction. Men 
may be tolerant of religious differences because they feel no 
concern about the questions out of which these differences 
arise. They have no convictions of their own. With them 
there are no clear distinctions between truth and error, right 
and wrong. There may be among the Chinese to-day great 
political questions agitating the Celestial Empire, but these 
give me no concern. They are too far removed from me. I 
am indifferent. So there are those who can stand evec m 
the midst of religious agitations and convulsions, wr.ore 
truth and right are involved, and maintain a careless indif- 
ference. The unauthorized decrees of councils and the 
traditions of men are as much to them as the clearest utter* 
ance of the word of God. The heart}' belief of error is as 
good as a hearty belief of truth. They pride themselves on 
their toleration and charity. 

He who knows anything of Paul needs not to be told how 
abhorrent to him such indifference would be. He could not 
praise such charity. With all the intensity of his ardent 
and honest nature he sought truth, and held it with greater 
tenacity than he held to life itself. He was too earnest to be 
indiffei'ent. 



Paul's chapter on charity. 135 

2. After a very careful study of what Paul ascribes to 
charity, I find the most accurate statement I can frame of 
what he means is this, gpod-will toward man, intensified and 
sanctified. No one word seems able to convey to the popu- 
lar mind the thought which was lying in his mind at the 
moment he wrote. Even the word he used was not enough, 
by itself, to do this. He felt the need of elaboration and 
extended description. This is an objection I have to the 
word love ; for, whatever may be found in it when used in 
its largest and strongest sense, it does not convey to the 
ordinary mind an accurate representation of what was in 
Paul's mind. Were I giving word-for-word translation, I 
would feel bound to use the word love. But as I am seek- 
ing to translate thoughts rather than words I am constrained 
to take such a phrase as will best cany the original thought 
to you. 

An examination of his description, from the fourth to 
seventh verse, shows that it is something which bears upon 
the relations between man and man, and that its exercise in 
us is directed toward our fellows. Moreover, the things 
which spring from it show, by their nature, they must be 
born of good-will. I, therefore, say it is good- will toward 
our fellow-men. But it is not that soft and vague good-will 
which is content with dreaming of good for others, and is 
rather good-wishing than gooclrwilling. It acts. It does 
things hard to do, and suffers things hard to endure. It is 
regnant in character and over life. It is intensified until it 
becomes positive. It rises up to such strength and suprem- 
acy that all other feelings go down under its power. Envy 
goes down, jealousy goes down, vanity goes down, the feel- 
ing of revenge goes down, party spirit goes down, all the 
feelings which make men harsh and cruel, narrow and selfish, 
go down under its beneficent reign. It is good-will inten- 
sified. 



136 PAUL S CHAPTER OX CHARITY. 

Again. It it not simply the good- will of the .humani- 
tarian. It is not the philanthropy of generous impulse. 
There are some natures so benign that, without the warmth 
and inspiration that comes of the spirit of religion, they 
send forth from themselves spontaneously that which makes 
the lot of others better. They shine like the sun, because it 
is their nature to shine. But these natures are rare. Paul 
speaks of that which comes of religion. It is the good- will 
born of God's good- will and modelled after that. It rises in 
the heart, conscious of divine mercy manifest toward it, in 
the gracious forgiveness, of greivous sins. It lives and 
flourishes in the light of God's good- will toward a fallen 
world. It is sanctified good- will. I know this is not the 
definition of dictionaries, but I think it is better because I 
think it gives to you Paul's thought more accurately and 
more fully than any one word can. Charity here means 
good- will toward our fellow-men, intensified until it becomes 
regnant and santified because it is born of the religion of 
Christ. 

II. Paul's estimate of its ivorth. 

The twelfth chapter closes with this verse, " Covet earnest 
the best gifts, (miraculous gifts) ; and yet shew I unto you 
a more excellent way." Then he writes in the thirteenth 
chapter to show that more excellent way, and especially to 
point out its excellence. The chapter is engaged chiefly in 
showing the unequalled worth of charity. 

In the first three verses he gives a statement of its value 
by a cont ast which seems an exaggeration, and it is cer- 
tainly startling. He places it in contrast with four things 
generally held in high esteem, but especially so in the Corin- 
thian church. They prized the gift of tongues, and he con 
trusts chanty with that. In his rapture, of which he tells us 
in his second letter, he had heard angelic language which 
could not be clothed in any language of man, and he places 



Paul's chapter on charity. 137 

charity in contrast with that, saying, " Though I speak with 
the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am 
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." Gifted 
with an eloquence that soars above the tongue of men and 
speaks with the tongues of angels, my utterances are but the 
soulless clanging of cymbals, if this heavenly virtue makes 
not fragrant all I say. Knowledge, to the Greek, was above 
the price of rubies — that knowledge which is the reward of 
diligent study. But many prophets in this church were 
gifted with that deeper insight into mysteries which comes of 
inspiration. Both are placed in contrast with charity when 
he says, "And though I have the gift of prophec} r , and 
understand all mysteries and all knowledge * * * and 
have not charity, I am nothing. ' ' The sage and the prophet 
are nothing without charity. Again, the power to work 
wonders had been bestowed upon many, and it was esteemed 
valuable in itself, and a mark also of peculiar favor. But he 
who has this power to its highest degree is declared to be 
nothing if charity is ^wanting, — ' ' Though I have all faith, 
so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity 1 
am nothing." And, finally, he places it in contrast with 
that form of self-sacrifice and good work which had such a 
remarkable development in the first churches that it seems 
exaggerated and abnormal. ' ' Though I ^ bestow all my 
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be 
burned and have not charity, I am nothing." 

Behold the man pictured in these three verses ! We need 
not pause to question whether it is possible to actually have 
such a character as this, with charity left out. He but sup- 
poses a case. Behold the man! An orator, a sage, a giant, 
a benefactor, all in one. More eloquent than Demosthenes, 
wiser than the combined wisdom of the seven sages of 
Greece, mightier through faith than a Hercules, and more 
liberal than the disciples in the Jerusalem church. Yet in 



138 Paul's chapter on charity. 

this character, wrought of such extraordinary elements, 
charity is wanting, and Paul writes of it, " it is nothing." 
No profit will come of its faith and its works, and its match- 
less eloquence supplied by its varied and profound knowl- 
edge is as " sounding brass and clanging cymbals ! ' ' What a 
startling statement of the essential worth of Christian charity. 
For the justice of this verdict he proceeds to assign three 
reasons : — 

I. In the first place, he shows its effect upon character and 
conduct. This he does from the fourth to the seventh verse. 
He here describes charity, not in the abstract, but in the con- 
crete. Better, perhaps, he is describing a character in 
which this virtue is the dominant principle. He takes a man 
in whom good-will is so intensified that it is regnant and so 
sanctified that it is pure, and shows how he bears himself 
under the provocations which may come upon him in his 
intercourse with others. Let me place each item before you, 
on this wall, and number them that we may the more dis- 
tinctly note each feature — 

1. Suffereth long. 

2. Is kind. 

3. Envieth not. 

4. Vaunteth not itself. 

5. Is not puffed up. 

6. Doth not behave itself unseemly. 

7. Seeketh not her own. 

8. Is not easily provoked. 

9. Thinketh no evil. 

10. Rejoiceth not in iniquity .- 

II. Rejoiceth in the truth. 

12. Beareth all things. 

13. Believeth all things. 

14. Hopeth all things. 

15. Endure th all things. 



Paul's chapter on charity. 139 

Here are fifteen characteristic features in the conduct of 
him who is under the domination of charity. You observe 
that almost all are negative. The magic reformation is 
wrought by dissipating evil. When charity comes to the 
throne of all these out of w T hich tumults and riots and 
anarchy come flee the realm. Quick temper goes, harshness 
flees, envy disappears, boasting is heard no more, self-con- 
ceit vanishes, selfishness, passion, evil suspicion and ill-will 
find no longer a home in that realm. 

When the night comes wild beasts go forth seeking prej*. 
To their victims it is the reign of terror and of death. But, 
with the rising sun the shades of the night vanish, and the 
ravenous beasts disappear. So, it is in us. When the sun 
of charity goes down these evil things rise up and go forth 
to their work of terror and darkness and death. But, with 
the rising of charity, they disappear. And, while it con- 
tinues to shine, they cannot be found. Travellers tell us 
that there are in some ancient lands the ruins of cities so 
preserved that the streets, the temples, the dwellings and 
every part of them remain as if deserted but a few years. 
Here life once flowed in full tide, and commerce and pleasure 
and ambition and civilization, held swaj\ But now you enter 
these homes or walk these streets and the owls and the bats and 
foul beasts find their habitation there. Turn back the tide of 
life and commerce there, and these must disappear. So, when 
God made man he made that which is more magnificent than 
ancient cities. He built a temple in which good-will should 
reign. But good-will was dethroned. Then came evil birds 
and foul beasts, and the time of desolation. Now, through 
the power of the religion of Christ good-will comes back 
and is crowned. This is the power that drives out evil and 
fills the temple with life. Its reign is benignant, within its 
dominion is peace, and moral beauty flourishes on every hand. 



140 paul's chapter on charity. 

This is Paul's first and chief reason for his estimate of 
charity — its effect upon character and conduct. The remain- 
ing two do not call for extended notice. 

2. His second reason is, the permanence of charity. 
"Charity never f aileth ; but whether there be prophecies, 
they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease-; 
whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." These 
miraculous gifts were to answer a certain purpose and then 
cease. They were the scaffolding around the building. 
When the building is erected the scaffolding comes down. 
But when these miraculous gifts went down — when they 
ceased — faith, hope and charity continued. 

Some suppose that he contrasts the permanence of charity 
with faith and hope also, and that he finds its superiority to 
them in this. Faith, they say, will give place to knowledge, 
and faith will be no more. Hope will cease when fruition 
comes. Hope will be no more. But with this I can hardly 
agree, for many things now held by faith will then be mat- 
ters of knowledge ; and many things for which we now hope 
may then be things of possession. I cannot conceive of a 
time w r hen faith and hope themselves will cease to be. The 
contrast, as to permanency, which Paul makes, is limited to 
miraculous endowments, and this contrast had a force then 
which it cannot have now. 

3. His third reason applies now as well as then, — Charity 
is a mark of manhood in Christ. There is growth. " When 
I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, 
I thought as a child ; but when I became a man, I put away 
childish things." 

There are well-defined periods in Christian growth. Most 
of us begin in fear, then live right from conviction and sense 
of duty, but do not come to fulness of manhood until we 
come to live from love. Charity marks maturity. Peter 



Paul's chapter on charity. 141 

teaches the same when naming the Christian graces, he be- 
gins with faith and ascends to charity. John but gives us 
the thought in another form when he says, "Perfect love 
casteth out fear. ' ' 

4. There is yet another reason which, while Paul does not 
mention it, was manifestly in his mind, — Charity heals 
church divisions. The church at Corinth was divided and he 
knew they needed charity. I rejoice that we do not need it 
for this purpose. For this church is united from top to bot- 
tom. If there is even a personal difficulty within its mem- 
bership I do not know of it. But we need to learn the value 
of charity in this direction, as it will help us in effecting 
Christian union. Our plea has been for the union of all 
Christians. Are we sure we have presented the New Testa- 
ment way? How may men be united? In three wa}s — 
first, by compulsory authority, reducing all to the same form. 
This we find in the papacy. Second, by requiring and in- 
ducing intellectual agreement, compelling perfect unity in 
views on all questions. This is attempted in binding men 
with creeds. Third, by love, which unites hearts, and ob- 
scures small distinctions by enriched feeling. I believe that 
the only true Christian union must begin by binding the 
hearts of the people together. - Ill-will, envy, and party pride 
will be driven out by nothing else. Let good-will, intensi- 
fied and sanctified, come in. Let charity preside over all 
councils held to promote union. Let love dictate all speech, 
and the good work will go on, until before a united church, 
the world will be compelled to confess the Christ. 

III. I must consider briefly, in concluding, a question 
which has been rising in importance by everything that has 
gone before: How may we cultivate this charity in ourselves? 
I pray you turn hungry hearts to this. For, if the most 
gifted are nothing without it, if i.t has power to transfigure 



142 paul's chapter on charity. 

character, to heal bitter dissensions, to Jbrighten the world 
and to sweeten life, let us seek it, let us have it, let us culti- 
vate it with the greatest care. I have time to give only two 
hints : — 

1. Meditate on God's good-will and love. We cannot 
command our hearts so that they will obey us, but we may 
bring them under influences which will melt and mould 
them. , Charity is born of God's good- will. It must feed 
upon his love. Sit in the light of the cross and think/ 
Think reverently, think deeply, think often, think long. Oh ! 
God's love to man — how far beyond all our thoughts. I 
pray that you may be able to comprehend with all saints its 
height, its length, its depth, its breadth, and yet I know it 
passes human understanding. 

2. Use what you already have. Let it speak to the 
troubled to comfort them. Let it give to the hungry to feed 
them. Let it minister to the children of want. Let it for- 
give injuries. Let it bear insults. Let it shine in our 
homes. Let it go and seek lost ones. Let it rescue those 
ready to perish. It will grow stronger. 

As a train swept toward the south a few months ago the 
engineer saw an object standing on the track. He pulled 
the whistle-cord but the quick, sharp signal did not cause 
the object to move. He reversed the engine, — saw it was 
a human being — a woman — threw himself on the front of 
his engine and by hazard to himself saved her. She was 
deaf, and, as her face was turned from the approaching 
train, she could not see her danger. So, many stand to-day 
while a greater danger sweeps on toward them. We must 
rescue them. But, what was the effect upon that engineer? 
Of the two he was probably the happier. He felt a deep 
interest in her afterward. Whenever opportunity presents 
itself he goes to see how that poor old woman does, and 



paul's chapter on charity. 143 

carries with him something for her comfort. But more than 
this, lie feels a quicker pulsation in his heart toward others. 
He would gladly do another deed like that. If you want to 
be happy, if you wish to forget your own woes, if you wish 
to have more of good-will in jour heart, go out from this 
place to minister unto others and brighten their he arts and 
their homes. 



THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 

Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh yon a 
reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. — I. Peter 
iii:15. 

Were some one to ask you, my brethren, the reason of your 
hope as Christians what would your answer be? It m.B,j 
serve to quicken your interest in the discussion of this matter 
if you will pause for a moment's thought. Does even the 
outline of the answer come to your mind ? No ? And yet, 
it is self-evident that every hope must have its reason, for 
hope without reason is like a house without a foundation. 
Moreover, it is intuitive that every hope should have an ade- 
quate reason. To build hope without adequate reason is 
to build a house upon the sand, — ruin must come, and the 
more magnificent the house the more fearful the ruin. 

No doubt the early converts to Christianity were frequently 
asked concerning the ground of their new hope. In turning 
to Christ then the change was more radical and manifest 
than it is now. They forsook the temples, and altars, and 
teachings of their fathers for the doctrine of Christ. They 
abandoned practices in which, before their new faith, they 
had indulged without restraint. They endured persecutions 
with patient fortitude and took joyfully the spoiling of their 
goods. Even death seemed robbed of its terrors by the 
brightness and strength of their hope. It was quite natural, 
therefore, for their pagan neighbors to ask their reason for 
such a hope, and to ask frequently. 

In that they are required to give an answer to these in- 
quiries. I find several things implied. It is implied, in the first 
(144) 



THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 145 

place, that a reason existed. This hope was not a delusion, 
a dream, or the fancy of a disordered mind. In the second 
place, it is implied that this reason appeared adequate. For 
better not attempt to give the ground of your hope at all, 
than to give a reason manifestly inadequate. It is implied 
further that this reason was such that an ordinary Christian 
could understand it and state it to others. This letter was 
written not to a few gifted teachers, but to strangers scat- 
tered abroad — to ordinary Christian men and women. Still 
further, it is implied that the reason was such that when 
stated even the pagan could understand it ; for they were the 
ones to whom the Christians would have to give answers. 
This reason, therefore, was not some mysterious matter 
which could be understood by only the regenerate. And, 
finally, it is implied that every Christian should be familiar 
with the foundation upon which he rests his hope. "Be 
ready always to answer to every one that asketh you a reason 
of the hope that is in you. ' ' 
I desire to notice two points : — 

1. The nature of our hope, and 

2. The ground upon which it rests. 

First, then, as to the nature of hope in general. It seems 
to me that these three things enter into all hope — that they 
are its essential elements — forecast, expectation and desire. 
Hope always looks forward, it never averts it gaze from the 
future. Of the things it beholds in that future there are 
some it expects. Among these expected things, some are 
to be dreaded, others to be desired. Only for these last can 
we say we hope Though we may look forward and behold 
the others, and expect them to fall to our lot, jet we cannot 
be said to hope for them, since we do not desire, but dread 
them. Forecast, expectation and desire combined make 
hope. 

10 



146 THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 

Had I the gift of an artist I would paint hope. I would 
represent her as bending with eager gaze toward the future, 
so absorbed in the things to come that she seems unconscious 
of things present ; her figure full of the energy of perpetual 
youth. I would picture her bright-eyed and sweet-faced, 
with the light of the rising sun resting upon it. Were I able, 
I would catch the expression on the face of Stephen, the 
martyr, as it was glowing with angelic brightness, and place 
it upon this canvas as the appropriate expression of the radi- 
ance of hope. For she is bright-eyed, sweet-faced, youthful, 
and radiant, drawing her inspiration from a cloudless, bliss- 
ful future. 

The religion of Christ is the religion of hope. Its patience, 
its endurance, its brightness of joy, its songs of triumph, its 
inspiration in good works, its fearlessness of death, are all 
the children of hope. As an .anchor thrown to the bottom 
of the sea holds the ship fast amid storms and tempests, so 
the Chrirtian's hope, entering into that within the vail, holds 
him secure amid the raging tempests and the wrecks on the sea 
of life. You who have read Bunyan's story of the struggles 
of Christian, remember how Hopeful helped him on through 
many dark and difficult hours and gave him perseverance to 
victory and rest. Hope is the light-house which sheds its 
ra} r s upon the ocean of life — the rainbow resting upon the 
cloud of trouble — the star shining in the dark night — the 
ruddy ray of morning — the blossom upon the tree of 
promise. 

Let there be a holy hush in our hearts while I endeavor to 
recite in reverent gratitude some of the items of our Christian 
hope. 

1. As Christians we hope to be delivered from the power 
of death and the dominion of the grave. 

2. TVe hope to stand justified at last before the spotless 
throne of final judgment. 



THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 147 

3. We hope to be transfigured and glorified until our vile 
bodies shall be like the glorified body of the Son of God. 

4. We hope to be freed from present infirmities and limi- 
tations, so that we shall sin no more, and shall know even as 
also we are known. 

5. We hope to be admitted to the full enjoyment of 
Heaven, whose glories surpass all human imagination. 

6. We hope to meet and to mingle with the ransomed of 
our race, — the elect of the whole earth, — a host so 
numerous that no man can number it. 

7. We hope to see our Maker face to face, and our 
Redeemer as he is. 

8. We hope to rise forever by the power of a limitless 
and eternal promotion. 

Briefly, this is the creed of our Christian hope. As I 
sit in solitude and recite it to myself, or in the wakeful 
watches of the night, meditate upon it, my heart is 
moved to ecstasy. Partly in doubt, but more in amaze- 
ment, and wonder, I ask whether I dream or whether I think 
upon substantial verities, From the pages of inspiration 
I strive to catch the outlines and to paint the picture of 
the things that God has prepared for them that love him. 
I go beyond the Jordan with Elijah, the prophet of fire, and 
Elisha, his companion and successor, until a chariot of fire 
and horses of fire part them both asunder, and with eager 
gaze I watch his rapid ascent. In this chariot of flame, 
drawn by steeds of fire, he sweeps upward with the swiftness 
of the whirlwind. Without the pain of death he enters 
heaven. So to every waiting, watching Christian may 
glorious translation come at any moment! Then I witness 
the ascension of our Lord. He passed through the gateway 
of death back to his Father and his home. Death had no 
longer dominion over him. He, in his resurrection and 



148 THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 

ascension, is the first fruits of the great harvest being 
gathered to God. He bore our humanity back to the 
throne. It is glorified humanity. What he is to-day is a 
type and a pledge of what his ' followers hereafter shall be. 
Or I pause and wait with Paul when, rapt in holy vision, he 
was caught up to paradise, and saw and heard things too 
glorious to be told in human speech. The revelation was so 
sublime that a thorn was given him in the flesh, lest he should 
be exalted above measure. How beautiful beyond our bright- 
est thinking, then, must be the paradise of God ! Still further 
searching, I turn the pages of the Apocalypse anil read of 
the countless blood-washed ones who worship with hallelujahs 
before the throne ; of the new heavens and the new earth ; 
of tie holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God 
out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband; of its 
walls and its gates and its beautiful streets ; of the pure 
river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of 
the throne of God, and of the Lamb ; of the tree of life, 
so fruitful, and its leaves for the healing of the nations ; of 
the fulness of light where the Lord giveth light, until with 
John I reverently fall at the feet of the angel which showeth 
me these beautiful things prepared for us by grace. 

The ground for such a hope, in order to be adequate, 
must be broad and deep and firm. And yet, when we turn 
to find the reason we are impressed, first of all, with what 
appears to be great unreasonableness. It seems as contrary 
to the course of events, to the working of natural law, to the 
testimony of our own experience, and to our observation, 
that we are almost overwhelmed by what seems to indicate 
the utter absence of adequate reason. 

Take one or two items. I stated that, as Christians, we 
hoped to be delivered from the power of death and the 
dominion of the grave. Yet what appears more unreason- 



THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 149 

able? The reign of death over our race seems absolute. 
Countless generations have gone before us to the grave. 
In the midst of universal defeat does it not seem unreason- 
able for us to hope for victory? And, again; we hope to 
stand justified before the spotless throne of final judgment. 
Conscious of sin, with our own hearts condemning us, with 
many indications that this consciousness of sin is universal, 
how very unreasonable it seems for any hope for justifica- 
tion before a spotless throne. How unreasonable appears 
our hope that our bodies will be glorified ; that we shall 
be freed from present infirmities and limitations ; that we 
shall be received into heaven, and that we shall advance for- 
ever in spiritual life and wisdom and glory ! When, there- 
fore, we are asked to give a reason of our hope, what shall 
that answer be ? 

(1.) We certainly cannot give an adequate reason in the 
nature of man. Such blessed things as these are not 
evolved from human nature under the reign of natural law. 

(2.) Nor is there within us a prophetic intuition which 
gives assurance of these things. There is that within which 
begets dreams of such things, but we feel after the dream- 
ing that they are only dreams. 

(3.) Nor can reason, by a series of deductions, build an 
adequate basis for such a hope. The brightest intellects 
have given their energy to these questions and their search 
has ended in doubt. They have stood on the beach and 
gazed out upon the mist-covered sea, unable to penetrate 
that mist. 

(4. ) Nor is there moral worth and merit in us to furnish an 
adequate reason. It is to be feared that many are deceiving 
themselves by building upon this sandy foundation. Mor- 
ality alone is not enough, good works cannot purchase justi- 
fication and heaven and eternal life. 



150 THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 

In my search for an adequate reason I visit the schools of 
philosophy in vain. My own heart tells me that the claim of 
personal merit will not do. My dreams are unsatisfactory. 
I wander from place to place seeking to know something of 
what lies beyond, and whether, and then why, we may hope. 
The deepest feelings of my nature urge me on. My ques- 
tions are too great, too intensely personal to admit of rest and 
silence. At last I enter an humble chapel. The people are 
plain, earnest and happy. I tell them I am a seeker for 
truth and certainty with reference to what lies beyond this 
brief life. I ask them for light. One of their number, a 
man of years and venerable in appearance, rises and tells me 
of their full and joyous hope. I listen enraptured. " But 
what ground," I ask, " have you for such a hope? What 
reason can you give? The hope itself is beautiful, and meets 
the deepest yearnings of my nature, yet in a matter so im- 
portant I cannot feel satisfied with anything short of cer- 
tainty." And the aged man replies, "The reason for our 
blessed hope is short and simple. I can give it in one sen- 
tence. The promise of Almighty God, our Father, through 
Jesus Christ, our Savior. This is the reason of our hope ; 
and we have been taught to give it to every one that asketh 
us." Like the spring time after winter, like the day-dawn 
after darkness, like the bursting of the sunshine from the 
shadow of a cloud, comes the brief and simple answer to my 
darkened, troubled heart. 

I feel that this ground is adequate, why should it be 
thought a thing incredible with me that God should raise the 
dead? He, too, can justify and glorify. He can fulfil all 
his promises, and I know that he will. I may not understand 
just how certain promised things can be, but that does not 
darken with the shadow of a doubt my faith that they will be, 
provided, only God, the Almighty Father, has promised 



THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 151 

them. " For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath 
for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein 
God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of pro- 
mise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath ; 
that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for 
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled 
for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before ; which hope 
we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast ; 
and which entereth into that within the vail ; whither the 
forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus." 

Here is strong consolation, because here is well-grounded 
hope. The two immutable things on which it rests are the 
promise and the oath of God. It is impossible for him to 
lie. His oath-confirmed promise and his blood-sealed oath 
are enough. The anchor hold of hope is sure, and so the 
trusting Christian is steadfast. He has fled for refuge and 
has found it. The consolation of the Christian is not in his 
own strength ; his hope of heaven is not based upon his 
merits. His comfort is that God has promised eternal life 
and blessedness to his people, and that he cannot prove false 
to his word. This is his simple, jet all-sufficient answer to 
every one that asketh a reason of the hope within him. 

Since the Christian hope is so precious, embracing victory 
over death; justification at the final judgment; an eternal 
transfiguration ; freedom from present infirmities and limita- 
tions ; an abundant entrance into heaven ; a blessed vision of 
God, our Father and Redeemer ; the fellowship of the ran- 
somed forever, and perpetual spiritual growth and exalta- 
tion — making it precious above all price, I cannot close 
without adding a few earnest, brotherly words. 

1. Let us strive for the full assurance of hope. The promise 
of God is sure, but it is conditioned to each individual. 
Give heed to the exhortation of Paul, saying: " We desire 



152 THE GKOtTND OF OUR HOPE. 

that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full 
assurance of hope unto the end ; that ye be not slothful, but 
followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the 
promises." We need diligence and patience and persever- 
ance. We need to comply with conditions, so that each one 
may say of the divine promise, it is God's promise to me. 
We need to be diligent and faithful in this, so that we may 
have the fall assurance of hope. 

2. Let us make more use of our hope in our every-day 
life. Think not of it as of something to be used only in the 
dying hour. Hope is not be used as the life-preservers on a 
boat are to be used. They lie unused and almost unnoticed 
until there comes a wreck, and then they are hastily put on 
to buoy up and to preserve from sinking into a watery grave. 
So are some with reference to hope. Not until there comes 
a wreck, not until the hour of dying do they seem to think of 
using their hope. But we really need it every day. We 
need the strength of its inspiration, the radiance of its light, 
and the blessedness of its sweet and peaceful joy. We 
need it to soothe our spirits, to brighten our skies, to solace 
our hearts. Make more practical and constant use of the 
hope that God has given you. 

And, last of all, let me speak a word of brotherly admoni- 
tion to those who are "without Christ, and are strangers 
from the covenants of promise, having no hope." Can you 
afford to live longer without this blessed hope? The hope 
that sustained your father and your mother, in life and in 
death ? The hope that transfigures life and conquors death ? 
You need it. Life is empty without it. You may have it as 
your hope. I beg you, flee for refuge to lay hold of this 
hope set before you. It rests upon the promise of God, and 
all his promises are in Christ. Only in Christ, therefore, 
can you find it. Only through loving, trustful obedience 



THE GROUND OF OUR HOPE. 153 

does it become 3 7 ours. He asks 3-011 to come to him, to 
learn of him, to take his yoke, promising you shall find rest 
to your souls. Oh, the sadness, oh, the bitterness of the 
thought, should you be lost, that the door of full hope stood 
open for me, that the voice of inercy called me to enter and 
yet, clay after da}', I procrastinated until all ray days were 
numbered and now it is too late ! No hope ! No ray of 
hope ! Too late, forever too late ! 



DRIFTING FROM GOD. 

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of 
unbelief in departing from the living God. — Heb. iii:12. 

I think it is a well established fact that no one can re- 
main perfectly stationary in this life. The changes which 
are taking place may be so silent and gradual that they 
escape ordinary observation, yet they are none the less real. 
There seems to be, for instance, no change taking place in 
my body — it appears to be the same it has been for years — 
and yet science demonstrates that it is continually undergo- 
ing modification — that the law of waste and supply is per- 
vjetually at work. To cease to grow is to begin to die. Not 
to go forward is, practically, to go backward. 

So is it with our spiritual life. Change is inherent. As 
the fire-fly shines only when on the wing, so the soul glows 
only when it is active. When action ceases we darken. 
Then, too, we are living in a moving, shifting, changing 
world. The drift of the world, and the undertow of human 
nature are both from God. He, therefore who comes near 
to God must make conscious effort to do so. There is no 
tide in the sea of life to carry him there. He who would 
abide near God must watch against an evil heart of unbelief. 
Were I to place a plank, or any substance that would easily 
float, upon the surface of a large body of water which ap- 
pears to be perfectly calm, it would seem to lie just where I 
place it. I might watch it for hours without it seeming to 
move. But, should I return on the following day, I would 
find it had slowly drifted from the place where it was. The 
(154) 



DRIFTING FROM GOD. 155 

gentle winds, the tide I could not see, and the motion of the 
earth combined to displace it by degrees. Thus there is 
danger lest we drift from God so slowly and gently that we 
are really unaware of it until we glance back over years. 
Nor can we, by passing through one tremendous struggle, 
place ourselves bej^ond the reach of this danger. As the 
boatman, rowing up the river, must continue the strokes of 
his oars to prevent his drifting backward and downward 
toward the precipice, so by watchfulness, by prayer, by 
good works, by all appointed means must we continue our 
ascent. The moment we fold our arms, that moment we 
begin to drift away. 

The history of religion is a history of fluctuations. Is- 
rael grieved God by apostasies in the wilderness, so that he 
is represented as swearing in his wrath that they should not 
enter into the promised rest. Their goodness was as the 
m >rning cloud, and as the early dew that passes bmslj. 
Only two, of all that went out from Egypt, ever entered into 
the land of promise. And after the chosen people were set- 
tled in Canaan these same weaknesses continued to mar their 
lives. In fact, their history may be told in two words —ad- 
vance and retreat. They drew near to God and were obedi- 
ent to his will, then drifted away into disobedience, again 
they drew near and again drifted away, like the ebbing and 
flowing of the tide. So of individuals. Even Abraham 
shows marked variations of religious strength and fervor. 
The same is true of Moses and the prophets, of Solomon 
and the kings, and of David, the man after God's own 
heart. The wonderful knowledge which Christ had of hu- 
man weakness is shown by his repeated exhortations to vigil- 
ance and prayerfulness. Watch, watch, watch — what I say 
unto one I say unto all — watch. And Paul had been think- 
ing of the apostasies in the wilderness when he wrote, ' ' Take 



156 DRIFTING FROM GOD. 

heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of 
unbelief in departing from the living God." 

I suggest that we limit our meditations to two points : — 

1. The outward symptoms of this apostasy, and 

2. The remedy for this apostasy. 

(1.) First, then, as to its symptoms. We would err dan- 
gerously were we to suppose that only gross sins and sudden, 
startling falls are the only symptoms. Judas and Julian are 
not to be typical apostates. Few fall away as they fell. It 
is with spiritual apostasy as with bodily diseases, — some are 
shocking in appearance and speedy in their work, while 
others are more hidden, and do their fatal work silently and 
by almost imperceptible degrees. Yet these hidden diseases 
are fatal. Sometimes their covert working makes them only 
the more dangerous by blinding the eyes of their victim to 
his real danger. A sudden fall may be followed by a speedy 
recovery ; but a gradual decay, unless promptly arrested, 
will almost certainly lead to hopeless ruin. It is very im- 
portant, then, that we earnestly and very diligently search 
within ourselves for symptoms of spiritual decay. What are 
some of these symptoms ? 

(1.) Religious peevishness is one symptom. The man 
who is habitually petulant, who is of a sour temper and hard 
to please in religious matters, gives good indications that his 
spiritual health is bad. Yet, strange to say, some who are 
thus afflicted mistake it for a sure mark of piety. They seem 
to suppose that because they can see so many motes in the 
eyes of others theirs must be remarkably clear. Nothing 
pleases them. They are as irritable as teething children and 
confirmed dyspeptics. There is no patience, no charity, no 
sweetness, no sunshine about them. They find so many things 
they do not like, and they seem free always to express their 
dislikes. What they have to say about the church is almost 



DRIFTING FROM GOD. 157 

always adverse. -Were their hearts right, were they full of 
the love of God and of love for their fellow-men, were they 
in good spiritual health, this croaking would cease. Croak- 
ing is a good sign that we are drifting from God. 

(2.) Another symptom is their loss of relish for spiritual 
food. They do not earnestly desire the sincere milk of the 
word that they may grow thereby. Nor can they endure 
strong meat. To them the Bible has no spiritual attractions. 
They have no taste for devotion, private prayer and the 
meeting for public worship are neglected. They find no 
pleasure in the communion of saints. When they attend 
the preaching of the word it is not that they may be fed. 
No, no. They are delighted with oratory, it may be, and 
the}' find the public gathering gives them an opportunity to 
meet with friends. But the simple story of the gospel has 
lost its charms. They enjoy controversial preaching, for the 
low state of their spiritual health gives them a relish for con- 
troversy. As a rule, those who have the least spiritual life 
are, of all in the church, most delighted with pugilistic 
preaching. Other preaching is tame and dry. If the news 
and the questions of the day are served up in the pulpit in 
sensational style they are interested. When the preacher is 
away they are absent. The house of God has lost its 
attractions because their hearts have lost their love for God 
and his worship. 

(3.) Then there may usually be found another symptom 
very much like this. It is an increasing relish for trivial, 
worldty amusements and ungodly associates. Where the 
carcass is there will the vultures be gathered together. 
Their taste guides them there. And they plainly tell what 
their taste is by gathering to feast on a putrid carcass. I 
suppose there are few ways in which we more clearly indicate 
our tastes, than by the places we frequent, in seeking our 



158 



DRIFTING FROM GOD. 



enjoyments, and the persons we choose in forming our asso- 
ciates. When the enjoyment we seek is worldly it is a 
demonstration that our hearts are worldly, and John, the 
apostle, says, "If any man love the world, the love of the 
Father is not in him. " Fondness for the circus, the theatre, 
the ball-room, and for worldly amusements generally, is a sure 
indication that we have not the love God shed abroad in our 
hearts. Then, too, if I delight in ungodly associates and 
find pleasure in their impure and profane conversation there 
must be within me an evil heart. I am drifting from God. 

(4. ) Still another symptom is found in the effect which an 
evil heart of unbelief has on the sight. You know it is of 
the nature of some diseases to impair the vision. Some- 
times it is almost entirely destroyed. This is true of spirit- 
ual degeneration. Those who have an evil heart of unbelief, 
and are greatly reduced in spiritual strength lack spiritual 
discernment. I suppose every pastor finds those in his flock 
who are suffering from impaired vision. They cannot see 
that this is wrong, or that that is dangerous and should be 
avoided. They say they can't see why the church should 
object to its members indulging in this or that amusement. 
Oh, how often we hear them say they can't see! Well, it is 
to be deplored. But he is a poor spiritual physician who, in 
such a case, goes to treating the symptom instead of 
endeavoring to go down to the root of the matter. The pri- 
mal trouble is in the heart. If you can purify and renew 
that the vision will be restored speedily. You may set it 
down, in nine cases out of every ten, that when the moral 
vision is dim the heart is wrong. 

(5.) But, not to detain you longer with the symptoms, I 
mention only one other, and that is spiritual lassitude. The 
patient has no inclination to work. He becomes an idler in 
the Lord's vineyard. Vigorous health delights in employ- 



DRIFTING FROM GOD. 159 

ment. It goes to its work with a song. But disease is lan- 
guid. It has no relish for work. Though there maybe 
much to do, though there may be loud calls for helpers, 
though the harvest may be wasting, simpl}- because there are 
not enough reapers, still the weak and sickly cannot summon 
resolution to enter the field. Many churches are full of 
idlers because they are full of men and women of weak faith 
and cold hearts. When the heart pulse is full and strong, 
when faith is clear and vigorous, when love flows with full 
tide, there is nothing so delightful as work for the Master. 
It is sweeter than song, more delightful than dreaming 
dreams and seeing visions. Labor is an outlet through which 
the feelings of devotion flow. Have you never observed 
how the new convert to Christ, in the fulness and freshness 
of his first love, delights to do some work, whatever it may 
be, for his Lord and Redeemer? Do you not recall this 
delight to labor as among the early experiences of your life 
as a Christian ? And am I not right in attributing your 
lassitude to your loss of love ? 

Having briefly stated some of the symptoms which usually 
mark departure in the heart from God, I desire, in all serious- 
ness, to ask you what you think of yourselves. Do you find 
upon self-examination that you are drifting away from him 
in whose fellowship we should find our chief delight? Be 
honest with yourself. If 3'our love has grown cold, if you 
have ceased to delight in his worship, if you no longer find 
pleasure in the communion of saints, if you have no mind, 
no will to work in the vineyard of our Lord, if }^ou find any 
indications that you have drifted or are drifting from God, 
do not seek to cloak the fact, fearful as it is, you are apos- 
tatizing. 

It may be that the cares of this world and the deceitful- 
ness of riches have been the cause, or you may have been 



160 DRIFTING FROM GOD. 

borne on the current of the world, or your self-confidence 
may have given Satan an advantage over you, but whatever 
the cause of your backsliding may have been, I beseech you, 
lose no time in healing these backslidings and in returning to 
your first love. We all need a spiritual revival. We need 
to renew our vows. We need to lay hold upon all means 
appointed for our rescue and to use them with great earn- 
estness. I pray that I may be enabled to point out to you 
the way to recover}^. 

II. The remedy for this apostasy. 

1. First of all we must take heed to ourselves. We must 
look into our own hearts, and make an honest effort to know 
our real condition. Carelessness has been the cause of 
apostasy with many of us, and so earnest heed must be the 
first step in our recovery. It was not until David was 
caused to see the greatness of his sin that the work of peni- 
tence and reformation was begun in earnest. Not until the 
glance from the eyes of Jesus brought Peter to think 
upon his great sin did he go out and weep over it with bit- 
terness. And not until the poor prodigal came to himself, 
not until he realized his wretchedness and how far he was 
from his father and his home, did he rise to return. Were 
you gently drifting down the Niagara River, with the mighty 
cataract below you, the first thing needed for your rescue 
would be a sense of your perilous condition. And yet, they 
who are drifting from God are drifting toward a more fear- 
ful precipice than that of Niagara. They are drifting 
toward the pit. When the vessel at sea has, through the 
carelessness of its captain and pilot, drifted from its course, 
the first t)hing needful is that they make their reckonings, 
There is no hope of its being restored to its proper path un- 
til this is done. 

2. Call up before your mind, as vividly as possible, 



DRIFTING FROM GOD. 161 

visions of a bright past. Once you were full of zeal, once 
you enjoyed fellowship with God. That past is bright. It 
was not until Cowper saw his danger and thought upon this 
bright past in his life that he began with earnest prayer to 
struggle back to God and light and joy. 

"Where is the blessedness I knew 
When first I saw the Lord? 
Where is the soul refreshing view 
Of Jesus and his word?" 

Thoughts of his father's house and bright visions of the 
plenty he had once enjoyed there helped the prodigal in his 
return. Thoughts of these days of blessed experience will 
give new impulse to our souls. Our sins will appear darker 
by the contrast. " There is no more effectual means," says 
Owen, " to stir up backsliders unto endeavors for deliver- 
ance than a continual remembrance of former things, and 
experiences of holy intercourse and communion with God. 
This will revive, quicken and strengthen the things ready to 
die, and beget a self-abhorrency. I have known one in the 
depths of distress and darkness of mind, who, going 
through temptation to destroy himself, was relieved and de- 
livered in the instant of ruin by the sudden remembrance 
that at such a time, and in such a place, he had pruyed fer- 
vently with the engagement of all his affections unto God. ' ' 
When Jacob had come to the place where God had granted 
him a glorious vision he renewed his vows. So with us. 
Let us look back to the beginning of our Christian course. 
Let us recall the earnest preaching, the songs, the whole 
scene of our conversion. This will help us greatly. 

3. Strengthen the things that remain that are ready "to die. 
This was the counsel Christ gave the decaying church in 
Sardis. This applies to every church, and to each one who 
finds himself in a languishing state of religious life. Just as 

11 



162 DRIFTING FROM GOD. 

it is important, when the bocry is prostrate with disease and 
seems ready to die, that we carefully nourish the strength 
still remaining, so is it important to strengthen what ma} T 
yet remain of faith and love and hope in our souls. Every 
true revival of religion both in individuals and in churches 
begins this wa}^. There is something good in you yet. This 
light has not gone entirely out. You may yet fan the dying 
embers into a glowing flame. Do not be overwhelmed with 
discouragement. The plant, though dwarfed by the frosts 
of the winter, may yet be made to blossom and bear fruit 
when the spring sun shines, and the soft breath of the 
south wind breathes upon it. You may have thought of 
giving up your effort to lead a Christian life. You have 
neglected the meetings of the church because you feel so un- 
worthy. At this critical moment in your life I come to beg 
you to abandon such a thought. Take courage. Strengthen 
the things which remain. Many have been as far away from 
God and as languishing in spiritual life as you, and have 
yet lived to become shining lights. So it may be with you. 
4. Do your first works. The church in Ephesus has left 
its first love. Christ beseeches it to remember from whence 
it had fallen, and to repent and do its first works. If we 
would cease drifting from God and return we must act very 
much as we did immediately after our conversion. I re- 
member the case of a young man who had so far lost his 
interest in religion that he determined to abandon even the 
profession of a religious life. He approached the pastor of 
the church and requested to have his name erased 
from the church-roll. The pastor persuaded him to with- 
draw the request for a while, and asked him, in the mean- 
time, to aid him somewhat in his pastoral work by calling 
to see a family which had been reported as in very destitute 
circumstances. He did so. He found the family in deep 



DRIFTING FROM GOD. 163 

need and ministered to them. This was his beginning. He 
engaged in other good works. Nothing more was heard of 
his request to have his name erased, until the pastor chanc- 
ing to meet him inquired if he still desired to withdraw from 
the church. " Oh no," said he, as he grasped the hand of 
the pastor, " oh no, and I desire to thank you for your very 
wise and brotherly treatment of my case. I was misera- 
ble beyond all expression that morning, but now I am bright 
and happy for all nry clouds have passed away." He was 
saved from eternal apostasy by doing good works. 

5. Strive for the virtue of genuineness. It is a weakness 
of human nature to drift into unreal service and heartless 
formality. At first our songs, our prayers, all our devotions 
are intensely and vividly real. But we become so used 
to them that they cease to engage our hearts. We kept up 
the appearance of religious life for a while ; but, by and by, 
began to feel that such emptiness was base hypocrisy, and 
that it was better not to appear religious than to do so when it 
was only an appearance. I am sure this has been the experi- 
ence of some. What should you do? My advice to you is, 
strive, perseveringly strive, to make all religious acts vital 
and genuine. Seize upon your best moments and use them. 
When you find your heart in a state of prayer, pray. Open 
the windows, open them toward heaven, and pray. Let it 
be a season of prayer. Let your best impulses speak out. 
When you attend church make an honest effort to engage 
heartily in the devotions of the house of God. Let your 
effort be to draw nearer to God. If you can do no 
more, then breath forth in prayer, "Nearer, my God, 
to thee — nearer to thee. ' ' Better a short, simple prayer, 
over and over again, striving to engage your heart in its 
utterance, than the most beautiful and elaborate service 



164 DRIFTING FROM GOD. 

offered without genuine devotion. Strive to be genuine, 
strive for reality. 

I will not detain you longer with these words of brotherly 
advice, although there are yet a few items I expected to 
mention. But I suppose they will suggest themselves, and 
I think it better not to Overburden your memory. Carry 
with you the suggestions I have made, and, I pray you, 
strive to profit by their counsel. First of all, take earnest 
heed to yourself ; call up bright experiences in your past ; 
strengthen the things that remain ; do such works as those 
in which you delighted in the bright and early days of your 
Christian experience ; strive for the virtue of genuineness in 
all you do. Do these things, and may God bless you in 
your efforts to lay your heart upon his altar again. 

In conclusion, be assured of God's mercy, that he will 
receive you. He restored Peter to his apostleship, though he 
had grievously denied him. He restored unto David the joys 
of his salvation, although he had polluted himself by gross sin. 
He will extend his helping hand to you, if you turn with 
sincere purpose, and with earnest endeavor you seek to come 
back. Though you may have drifted far from him his eyes 
rest upon you, and his mercy is ready to forgive and to 
restore. Think of the father's welcome to the prodigal son 
on his return, and be encouraged. 



JESUS AS A TEACHER. 

Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no 
man can do the miracles which thou doest except God be with 
him. — John iii:2. 

This is the confession of Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 
He regarded Jesus as a great teacher. He had probably 
witnessed some of his miracles, and heard him in his public 
instruction. It is night. He seeks the great teacher that he 
may converse with him in private. I can see nothing in the 
simple fact that he went at night to justify the censure 
which not only unfrequently is visited against him. His 
reasons for selecting that time may have been honorable. 
We know that after this he dared to speak a word for Jesus 
in the midst of violent prejudice and avowed hostility. 
When the disciples were paralyzed with fear, and had 
abandoned hope, Nicodemus joined with Joseph of Arima- 
thea in the burial of Jesus. Does this look like a craven 
coward ? 

I desire to speak of Jesus as a teacher. For whatever 
else he may be to the world we should never forget the fact 
that he stands out before men as a teacher come from God. 
The will of God and the way of life must be learned from- 
him. He is divinely anointed to instruct. High above al 
other teachers he stands pre-eminent. Prophets enlightened 
by the inspiring Spirit of God, Psalmists whose souls often 
waited in the Unseen Holy, and Moses with whom the 
Omniscient had spoken face to face, have delivered their 
messages. The lessons they taught were only preparatory. 
The light they shed was onlv the dim and borrowed light 

( 165 ), 



166 JESUS AS A TEACHER. 

which falls from the stars. The stars fade away before the 
rising splendors of the king of day. So fade away all 
teachers when Jesus opens his lips for instruction. In his 
presence we should reverently bow, and as the favored three 
on the Mount of Transfiguration, when the cloud had 
passed, saw Jesus only and heard the voice of the Father 
saying, " Hear ye Mm," so should it be with us. His 'right 
to teach us is an exclusive right. He comes with this claim 
and his miracles demonstrate that the Father approves it. In 
our meditation let us notice. 

I. The record of his teaching 

II. Some of the characteristics of his teaching. 

III. Some of the subjects of his teaching. 
I. Record of his teaxhing. 

The great Arabian prophet committed to writings dictated 
by himself those views which he wished should be connected 
with his name through all time to come. The same is true 
of the Chinese patriarch, Confucius, and all leading philoso- 
phers of ancient- times. But it is a fact worthy of notice 
that Jesus prepared and committed to record no statement of 
his doctrine. Neither was any one taken under special 
instruction in order to prepare such a record. He was a 
great teacher, but he had no organized school to which he 
invited men for instruction. He went from place to place 
teaching the multitudes gathered by the fame of his gracious 
miracles. From the mountain side, and in the temple, from 
the boat resting at anchor on the margin of the lake and in 
the quiet of social intercourse, wherever he went, whether at 
a feast in the house of plenty, or among the famishing 
children of want, like a bountiful sower he cast abroad the 
golden seeds of heavenly wisdom. He let them fall. He 
seemed to feel no concern as to their preservation for future 
generations. 



JESUS AS A TEACHER. 167 

Jn a few fragments of public discourses, in parables and 
in private conversations, scattered, apparently without regard 
to order, through four brief histories of his life, are to be 
found the only records of the lessons taught by the most 
influential teacher the world has ever known. These four 
sketches were written by as many different men, so that 
what is related by one is repeated, ki many cases, by others. 
Were we to strike out every repetition, how very short would 
the remaining record be ! And }^et it would contain the 
thoughts which have changed the world's thinking and given 
the noblest type of manhood and the purest civilization the 
world has ever seen ! 

Strange as it may appear to us that Christ left no formu- 
lated statement of his doctrine, yet, if we believe in the 
inspiration of the four evangelists, we must recognize the 
very form and manner of their records as divine. They 
were guided by the Spirit of God in selecting and arranging 
that which was for the instruction of generations then 
unborn. Men have sought to state in formal propositions 
these lessons of heavenly wisdom. In volumes of systema- 
tic theology, in creeds and confessions of faith they seek to 
formulate the doctrine of Christ. But, my brethren is not 
the inspired form the best ? It presents these lessons in the 
simple language of the common pe pie rather than in the 
technical terms of philosophy. It contains the lessons for 
practical life rather than problems for speculative thought. 
It presents them not in the abstract, but in the concrete, 
illustrated by a life. There is a" wonderful reality and sim- 
plicity in the faith which comes from these brief but sublime 
and comprehensive records. "Brethren, let me urge upon 
you the habitual study of the holy gospels," says Dr. Ber- 
nard, "for this revival of the reality and simplicity of faith. 
Let me urge it more especially upon those who converse in 



168 JESUS AS A TEACHER. 

the region of abstract ideas, whether they frequent the 
ordered paths of systematic divinity, or wander in the free 
excursions of speculative thought. Dear as the gospel 
stories are to the simple peasant, they are yet more necessary 
to the student and the divine ; for there are influences in 
abstract thought and in dogmatic discussion which will drain 
the soul of life unless fitting antidotes be used ; and there 
is no antidote so effectual, as is found in a continual return 
to those scenes of historic fact in which the word of -God 
has given us our first lessons in Christ." 

In the form of the divine record there is a beautiful 
analogy to the volume of nature. The laws of nature are 
not formulated after the method of science, nor are its riches 
classified and systematically arranged. Mountains, and val- 
leys, and fertile fields, and barren deserts, and rivers, and 
seas, are scattered over the earth without apparent orde/. 
Under the rugged mountain are hidden inestimable treasures, 
and untold wealth lies deep in the caves of the ocean. So 
the lessons which are to enrich us with eternal life and a 
heavenly home, which are to set men free from the thraldom 
of sin and bind up broken hearts, lie halt' concealed and 
half revealed under the figure of a parable, or strewn like 
celestial pearls in private conversations. 

II. Some characteristics of Christ's teaching. 

After reading the brief Memoirs of Christ which have 
been preserved to us, who can wonder that the multitudes 
were astonished at his dotrine? Who feels any surprise 
when those who were sent to arrest him turned with the con- 
fession " never man spake like this man." But let us note 
with some care a few of the characteristic, of his teaching. 

1. It was plain and direct. The common people could 
understand him. It abounded in illustrations with which 
they were familiar. The farmer sowing seeds in a field near 



JESUS AS A TEACHER. 169 

by, and the fishermen dragging their nets to the shore ; the 
frail sparrow flying over their heads, and the delicate lily 
blooming at their feet ; the silent growing of the seed that 
falls into the ground and the reapers going forth to gather 
the golden grain are some of the figures by which he con- 
veyed his lessons to men. In this way too he has made some 
of the ordinary objects and events in life perpetual 
instructors. These are continually bringing to mind the 
words of Christ. 

2. It was gentle and affectionate. With what tenderness 
must he have said, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke 
upon you and learn, of me ; for I am meek and lowly in 
heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke 
is easy and my burden light." How many of earth's weary 
ones have found in these precious words a cordial for aching 
hearts ! How tender the compassion which breathes forth in 
this call to rest! And then, again, who can listen to his 
lamentation over Jerusalem, and mark the flowing tears which 
steal down his cheek, without being touched with his strong 
affection. It was only to the corrupt and hypocritical that 
his words became stern and terrible. In the twenty-third 
chapter of Matthew he pronounces a seven-fold woe upon 
his relentless enemies. 

3. His teaching was authoritative. It was this which 
impressed the multitude. " They were astonished at his doc- 
trine, for he taught them as one having authority and not as 
the scribes." The scribes could do no better than to say, 
" Moses hath said ; " but Christ stood before them and with 
the dignity of authority uttered repeatedly the words, " But 
J say to you." He was divinely anointed to reveal the 
truth. He did not speculate about things unknown, but 
testified concerning that which he knew. He could speak 



170 , JESUS AS A TEACHER. 

with authority, for in him were hidden all the treasures of 
wisdom and knowledge. He had the very manner of one 
confident of perfect knowledge. He never had occasion to 
correct a single statement that came from his lips. His 
utterances were infallible. 

III. Subjects of Christ's fetching . 

When we meditate on the sublime and difficult themes 
which formed the subjects of his instructions, his greatness 
becomes more apparent. His teaching embraces all that 
pertains to salvation, duty and destiny. The doctrine of the 
soul, the doctrine of God, and the doctrine of the reconcilia- 
tion of the soul to God, give us a general view of the sub- 
jects most prominent in his teaching. I wish, however to be 
more specific. 

1. He taught us more of God's nature and of his special 
providence over all his creatures. A knowledge of God 
must lie at the foundation of every truly religious life. He 
taught that not a sparrow falls to the ground without God's 
notice. Not a lily blooms without his care. The father- 
hood of God is often and distinctly affirmed. His love is 
revealed and demonstrated. When Philip said to him, 
" Show us the Father," Jesus answered, saying, " Have I 
been so long time with you, and 3- et hast thou not known me, 
Philip? — he that hath seen me hath seen the Father." He 
is the revelation of the character of the Father. 

2. He revealed more clearly Jhe true nature of sin. It 
consists not simply in outward action, but in thought and 
purpose. He is not the murderer only who actually takes 
life, but he also who in his heart so hates his fellow that he 
would. In his clear and searching judgment he penetrates 
the outer vail and looks upon the hidden spring and secret 
motives which dwell within the heart. With him sin is the 
refusing of the right as right, knowing at the time it is right, 






JESUS AS A TEACHER. 171 

and choosing the wrong as wrong, knowing at the time it is 
wrong. He unmasks hypocrisy. 

3. He teaches that the ivorld's great conflict is with sin. 
He appears to care but little for outward circumstances. 
To the poor paralytic he said, " Thy sins be forgiven thee." 
He saw a deeper affliction than the one which attracted ordi- 
nary men. He looked within, and said, thy sins be forgiven 
thee. The Jews were groaning under Roman oppression. 
They longed to be free. But Jesus saw a more debasing 
slavery — the slavery of sin. He proclaimed himsef a great 
liberator — not from political bondage — but from the 
bondage of Satan. 

4. He taught and he demonstrated the reality of the for- 
giveness of sins. He presented it as the great boon to be 
enjoyed as an actual fact in this life. When the Pharisees 
murmured at his pronouncing absolution in the case just 
mentioned, he wrought a miracle to demonstrate his ability 
to forgive. Pardon is no longer something to be vainly 
sought, but is freely offered to all who will accept it. 
Your sins and your iniquities I will remember no more 
forever. 

5. He taught the value of the soul. This thought underlies 
all he said and did. But at times it arose into overshadow- 
ing prominence, like some mountain peak, in some such 
expression as this: "What shall it profit a man if he gain 
the whole world and lose -his own soul? " The voice of pas- 
sion, the voice of worldly care, and the voice of carnal 
appetite had cried so that the voice of the soul was seldom 
heard. Its value was forgotten. In fact, its very existence 
was practically ignored. Jesus gave it a voice and empha- 
sized its value. 

6. He brought life and immortality to light. He poured a 
flood of light on the Beyond. The wisest could only guess ; 



172 JESUS AS A TEACHER. 

Jesus spoke with the utmost confidence. He spoke of 
things unseen with as much familiarity as of those things 
which appear. He taught that this life is to be completed 
in the life to come. From that he brought thoughts into this 
which makes it sublime to live. In even a glance at the 
themes on which he spoke my soul is filled with awe. 

How important that we should be his disciples in deed and 
in truth. The very themes on which he speaks are such as 
to arrest the attention and awaken a profound interest in 
every thoughtful mind. He who affects to ignore the gospel 
records proclaims his own folly. 

Again, the nature of his teaching argues his divinity. 
Where did he gain such wonderful knowledge? He was 
born a Jew. His mother was a Jewess. He was educated 
among a narrow and bigoted people. Yet he arose above all 
the influences of his early years and proclaimed lessons of 
wisdom for ages to come. 

Finally, my brethren, as is the value of his teaching so is 
our obligation to receive it. "See that ye refuse not him 
that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him 
that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we 
turn away from him that speaketh from heaven; whose 
voice shook the earth ; but now he hath promised, saying, 
Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. ' ' 
Let us heed the command of the Father, as, pointing to his 
Son, he said, Hear ye Him. 



THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. 

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no 
man cometh unto the Father, but by me. — Jno. xiv: 6. 

He who reads the life of Christ with thoughtful attention 
cannot fail to observe how his whole being seemed to rise as 
he came near the Cross. His love for his disciples became 
more personal, more intense, even pathetic ; his fellowship 
with his Father and the upper world seemed more conscious 
and more precious, and his utterances make manifest the 
fact that his thoughts were busy with the most profound 
spiritual relationships. At the supper — the last one he 
celebrated with his immediate followers — he pours out the 
deep love and tender sympathy of his heart for them in words 
which have been a precious heritage to many a belieAdng yet 
troubled heart since. "It is expedient for you that I go 
away. Let not your hearts be troubled — I will send you 
another Comforter." So he sought to quiet them with all 
the gentleness and tenderness of a devoted mother bending 
over a sobbing child. His mind moves among the hidden 
spiritual verities. He speaks of the relationships which can 
neither be apprehended nor understood by carnal minds. 
The relation between him and his Father ; the coming of the 
Spirit to be, not only with, but in the disciples ; the spiritual 
unity which should exist among them, — these were the high 
themes on which he spoke during that interview recorded 
from the thirteenth to the eighteenth chapter of John. 

It was while his nature was lifted to this exalted plane that 
he uttered the words of the text, — "J am the way, the truth, 

(173) 



17 1 THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. 

and the life. ' ' If we ever come to a full comprehension of 
what he meant by this, if we ever scale the heights, and 
fathom the depths, and compass the wide sweep of the mean- 
ing of this wonderful saying, it must be in some moment of 
spiritual exaltation akin to that out of which it was born. 
Again and again have I turned from this passage with the 
feeling that it was too high for me and too deep. I have that 
feeling now. But, if I can bring before you such fragments 
of its meaning as will make Christ more to us, let his name 
be praised. 

1. Christ is the way. Whatever may be meant, bej'ond and 
besides, it is certainly meant he is the way to God and to 
Heaven. "No man can come unto the Father, but by me." 
And, if no man can come unto the Father but by him, then 
it follows, of necessity, no man can come to Heaven but by 
him. Not only this, but when he says, "I am the way " we 
are justified, I think, in saying he means there is no other 
way. The emphasis of the claim makes it exclusive. It 
means Christ is our only way to God and to Heaven. 

Sin had closed the way. The flaming sword turning every 
way to guard the approaches to the tree of life tells how 
certainly and completely the way was closed. There was no 
by-path or circuitous route still open. Every approach was 
closed. And this same fact was taught in significant figure 
to the Jews. In the tabernacle in the wilderness, and in the 
temple on Mt. Zion, an apartment was cut off as the symbolic 
dwelling-place of Jehovah. A thick curtain separated it from 
the holy place. Through this curtain none dared go save 
the High Priest only, and he at stated times and with pre- 
scribed sacrifices. But, when Christ expired on the Cross, 
this veil in the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom. 
The way is open. It is through Christ's flesh. It is called 
a neiv and living way, and is consecrated by his blood. 



THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. 175 

"I am the way." Christ is the only mediator. If I 
have thank-offerings for God I must present them through 
Christ. If I long for divine forgiveness I must find it 
through Christ. If I desire to approach God in prayer I can 
doit only through Christ. "There is one God and one 
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." I 
cannot offer prayer but through this mediator. I was once 
elected chaplain of a Masonic lodge ; I would not act be- 
cause the prayers ignored the mediation of Christ. It is a 
fundamental — an essential doctrine of the Christian Scrip- 
tures. 

I can preach salvation by no other way. God's ordained 
way of dealing with us is through a mediator, and he gives 
us every reason to believe he will not deal with us in any 
other way. He is king. He has said whatever you have to 
present or to ask, let it be through my Son. I will hear you 
for his sake. You cannot come to me directly. He is the 
way. 

2. Christ is the truth. There is a unity in the text which 
is in danger of being overlooked. Many suppose it mentions 
three separate and distinct things which Christ claims con- 
cerning himself, but which have no relation to each other. 
They, however, are essentially joined. Neither is complete 
but in union with the others, and the order in which they 
stand is the order of nature, because it is the order of man's 
necessity. First of all is our need of a way to God. But 
suppose the way opened. How can we find it? In the ig- 
norance which has settled down upon us like thick darkness 
we would grope in vain to find it, or else by chance discover 
the 'provided way. We need the light of truth. Not truth 
that comes in broken and refracted rays, but full-orbed, 
sure-shining truth. 

• The claim is more than that — he speaks truth. There is a 
difference between truth and veracity. Veracity is the exact 



176 THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. 

harmony between the conception in the mind and the utter- 
ance of the tongue. Truth is the exact harmony between 
the conception in the mind and reality. The conception 
in the mind may be erroneous, but if the spoken word gives 
accurate representation of the conception, the man is a man 
of veracity. But unless there is perfect harmony between the 
conception lying in the mind and things and events as they 
actually are, he has not the truth. 

When, therefore, Christ says " I am the truth," he claims 
that in his mind lie the pictures of things and the map of 
events as they actually are. He claims relation to the abso- 
lute. His is no fragmentary knowledge. I am the infallible 
guide to men because I am the truth. Only the absolute can 
be infallible. Of men we may say they know truth ; but at 
its best it is only part- knowledge. They cannot come to that 
fulness which will justify them in saying, we are the truth. 
Only the divine can do that, because to only divinity belongs 
absolute knowledge. 

The search of the sages has been for truth. The cry of 
the lost in the great and barren wilderness of sin has been 
the cry for light, answered only by the mocking echo of 
their piteous cry. The earnest thinkers of the ages have 
placed only one question before them — what is truth? 
They have looked to the stars, they have sounded the depths, 
they have opened the earth, they have questioned all living 
things, they have turned their eyes within. Oh, tell us, 
what is truth ? We want the sure, the absolute — the infal- 
lible. And not until the- Teacher, sent from God, had 
come, was there a voice to say I am the truth. 

3. Christ is the Life. As we proceed in the study of 
this high claim of Christ we go into deeper mystery. 
We easily understood what he meant when he said, I am the 
way. The claim to be the truth seemed more profound., 
But, when he says I am the life, he carries us into such deep 



THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. 177 

mysteries that we cannot hope to fully understand. Life in 
in its lowest, simplest form is a mystery. We apprehend a 
few of its phenomena, but what is life itself? The nearest 
we can come is to say that it is union with a life-fountain 
according to the law of being in each case. The law of being 
decides the nature of the life. The union broken is death. 
In order to life, then, there must be at least two things: 
First, the life-fountain; second, the union of the creature 
with the life- fountain. No creature can have life in itself. 
All creature-life is derived life. Of no creature can you say 
it is life. When, then, Christ says "I am the life," he 
claimed what belongs only to the Divine. In another place 
he has said, "As the Father has life in himself, so has he 
given to the Son to have lif e^ia himself. ' ' He is a life-foun- 
tain. Being a life-fountain he has power- to give life. But 
this life comes to us only by our union with him. Our union 
with him is begun and is perpetuated by walking in the way 
and in the light. So we have life. Not only do we have 
life by union with Christ, but the uniform teaching of the 
New Testament Scriptures is that in this union alone can we 
have life eternal. This eternal life is something which begins 
the moment our union with Christ begins. It is union with 
Christ. "I am the life." This is the height of his claim. 
His own resurrection is its demonstration. 

I hold Christ before you to-day as the only one who can 
interpret and meet your deepest wants. There are deep nd 
unutterable yearnings in every soul. There are wants 
vaguely yet keenly felt. These find their interpretation in 
Christ. When I study the supply in him I learn, by the very 
supply he brings, just what was the want I so vaguely felt. 

I am the way. That tells me I am shut out from home, 
and lost. As a child walks the street and cries out in 
fright because it has wandered from home and knows not 

12 



178 THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. 

the wa}- back, so with us all. My soul in agony cries for 
the way. 

1 am the truth, interprets another part of my want. I am 
blind. I grope. Vague apprehensions of deeper calamities 
haunt me. I cry out for light but the echo to my cry is my 
only answer. I hunger for truth, and my hunger begets 
dreams and then feeds upon them. 

I am the life. Oh, how the fear of death has made me a 
slave. His shadow rests upon my heart, and he closes with 
his huge black form the way before me. I cry out in terror. 
But the tyrant is unmoved by my cry. But blessed be the 
name of the Most High ; there comes one whose very being 
is life and overthrows the tyrant. What more can we ask? 
Standing now on the prostrate form of Death, with the bar- 
riers of sin broken down and the darkness of ignorance 
driven back, Christ asks you to accept him because he is 
the way, the truth, and the life. 

"Thou art the Way — to thee alone 
From sin and death we flee ; 
And he who would the Father seek, 
Must seek him, Lord, by thee. 

Thou art the Truth — thy word alone 

True wisdom can impart; 
Thou, only, canst inform the mind, 

And purify the heart. 

Thou art the Life — the rending tomb 

Proclaims thy conquering arm ; 
And those who put their trust in thee, 

Nor death nor bell shall harm. 

Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life; 

Grant us that way to know, 
That truth to keep, that life to win, 

Whose joys eternal flow." 



OUR SINS AND OUR SAVIOR. 

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name 
Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins. — Mat. i: 21. 

This name is significant of his entire work for our race. 
It means savior, and he came into the world to save. Not 
from the bondage of foreign oppression, as many of that day 
supposed, nor yet from the temporal ills of life, as many of 
this day seem to think ; but he came to save the people from 
their sins. His salvation is primarily spiritual and its tem- 
poral features are subordinate. Nor did he come to save the 
people as they are, in their sins ; but he came to save them 
from their sins. The leper who had been banished from the 
camp did not need simply to be admitted to it again ; he needed 
to be healed of his leprosy. So it is not simply admission 
to Heaven that we need, but we need chiefly to be cleansed 
of our sins. Sin must be eliminated and the record of it 
must be erased before we are .prepared to enjoy Heaven. 
Let ns give attention, then, to these two points : — 

I. Some of the difficulties involved in this undertaking , and 

II. The way in which Christ meets them and accomplishes 
his ivork. 

I. There are only four of these difficulties which' I will men- 
tion. 

1. First, that which is to be found in the nature of man. 
Were a planet to forsake its orbit, and rush wildly through 
space toward wreck it could be restored at once to its place, 
for its restoration would be only a question of power, and 
the power that started it on its course could recall it to its 

( 179 ) 



180 OUR SINS AND OUR SAVIOR. 

place. Or were the stars to fall from the skies, the power 
that made them could at once replace them. These matters 
call for power only. But when man forsook his appointed 
wa} 7- and rushed headlong toward ruin ; when man fell from 
his high estate and the work of his restoration is undertaken 
it is far more difficult. His restoration is not simply a ques- 
tion of power. If saved as man he must be saved without 
violence to his will. 

2. A second difficulty is found in the nature of the hold 
sin has upon us. Were we held simply in its embrace, were 
it something outside of us, though it were a mighty giant, } r et 
to smite the giant would be to set us free. That, though a 
great deliverance would still be a simple work. When David 
kept his father's flocks, he tells us that a lion once came and 
carried away a lamb, and that he followed after and smote 
the lion and slew him and so delivered the prey. This was a 
great yet a very simple rescue. It required only courage 
and power. To slay the beast was to deliver the prey. 

But the hold sin has upon us is very different, for sin is 
entrenched within us. Like a disease that so permeates the 
body that every atom is corrupted, and every drop of blood 
is poisoned, so has sin corrupted and poisoned every part of 
our nature. He who undertakes to eliminate this poison 
and to restore health finds his work complicated and difficult. 
It requires more than power. Or, again, the demoniac is a 
type of the sinner. Evil spirits have entered in and taken 
entire possession. The mind, the heart, the will, the entire 
inner man, is held in bondage. The hold they have npon 
their victim is of such a nature that no physical force, no 
simple power, however great, can cast them out. So the 
nature of the hold which sin has upon us makes the work 
delicate and difficult. Sin is entrenched within. 

3. Then, again, the nature of the connection between sin 



OUR SINS AND OUR SAVIOR. 181 

and its consequences increases this difficulty. The conse- 
quences of sin are natural, as opposed to arbitrary, and are 
closely linked to sins as opposed to the thought that they are 
far removed, awaiting our entrance upon another state. But, 
if we are saved from sins, we must be saved from these con- 
sequences. It is not enough, therefore, to eliminate sin, and 
cause us to cease from sinning. Were this all that was done 
consequences would abide with us as our bitter portion. The 
consequences of war do not cease with the cessation of hos- 
tilities. Nearly eighteen years have passed since the close 
of our unhappy civil war, but consequences continue. Sup- 
pose I indulge for a number of years in sins which corrupt 
and enfeeble my bod\>\ I may cease sinning in a day, but 
to my grave I carry the consequences of my sins with me. 
A house is on fire and you call upon me to save the building. 
I cannot. No one can. I may quench the flames, but in 
doing that I do not save the building. The roof, and all the 
upper story are gone and other parts are damaged. By put- 
ting out the fire when I did I prevented the total destruction 
of the building, but the flames did their work as they went, 
and I have no power to undo it. The nature of the intimate 
connection between the fire and its consequences prevented 
my saving the building entire. So the nature of the connec- 
tion between sins and their consequences makes the work of 
saving from sin appear impossible. 

4. The last difficulty I shall mention is found in the 
relation of sin to law and government. Our sins are related 
to moral law and the divine government. Sin is the trans- 
gression of law. Law is the expression of the will and 
authority of government. Our sins, therefore, involve legal 
and governmental questions. I state simply the fact. I do 
not undertake to explain just what these questions are, for 
I do not know. There are some analogies to the divine 



182 OUR SINS AND OCR SAVIOR. 

government found among human governments and these help 
us in apprehending and understanding some of these ques- 
tions. 'For the present, however, we have to do with the 
simple fact that to save us from our sins requires the solu- 
tion of some problems of law and government. 

But I have presented sufficient, I suppose, to indicate 
some of the difficulties involved in saving us from our sins. 
We see that it is not simply a question of power or of will. 
The nature of man as a free agent ; the nature of the hold 
which sin has upon us, binding the inner man and poisoning 
every part of our nature ; the connection between sin and its 
consequences, and the relation which sin sustains to moral 
law and the divine government show how difficult and com- 
plicated must be the undertaking to save from sin. 

II. Let us now consider the way in which Christ meets these 
difficulties and accomplishes his ivork. 

Sin is represented as darkening our understandings, cor- 
rupting our hearts, and perverting our wills ; as marring our 
lives and shaping our destiny. It is manifest, therefore, 
that salvation from sin cannot be complete until it rectifies 
all these. Our relation to violated law must be corrected, 
and the demands of justice satisfied. If we read the story 
of redemption, in the light of these necessities, I think we will 
find that Christ proceeds with his work along the line here 
indicated. 

1. He, first of all, enlightens the darkened understand- 
ing by the light of instruction. His religion deals with the 
mind first. He informs the mind by the instructions of his 
heavenly message. He comes before the world, in the be- 
ginning of his personal ministry, as a teacher of men. He 
opened his mouth and taught them ; he went about all Galilee 
teaching the people ; he sat daily teaching in the temple, — 
these and similar expressions used concerning the Christ 



OUR SINS AND OUR SAVIOR. 183 

indicate the way in which he opened his work. And when 
he gave commission to his apostles it was that they should 
go and teach, saying: " Go, teach all nations." 

Whatever may be the outcry against that which some 
choose to call "head religion" I hold that both a sound 
philosophy and the declarations of Scripture justify me in 
saying that the religion which does not instruct the mind and 
enlighten the understanding is not suited to the wants of 
man. True religion is not first a matter of emotion, or a 
system of duties, but a matter of knowledge through the 
light of revelation. The gospel is, for this reason, spoken of 
as full of light, shining forth. Its messengers are teachers 
of men, and their power has been greatest wherever they 
have magnified their office of teaching. I feel sure that our 
pulpits would have a stronger hold upon the people to-day if 
they abounded more in instructions on the elementary prin- 
ciples of redemption. To enlighten the understanding with 
spiritual truth is to begin the work of saving men from 
their sins. 

2. He purifies the heart by the faith of the gospel. 
Peter said, in the Jerusalem Council, " He hath put no dif- 
ference between us (the Jews) and them (the Gentiles) 
purifying their hearts by faith." This is a broad declaration 
that he purifies the hearts of all by faith. But, Paul says 
faith comes by hearing the word of God. Purification, there- 
fore, comes through being taught the word of God. Again, 
John testifies that we love God because he first loved us. 
This is the genesis of divine love in human hearts. But the 
love of God for us cannot beget love within us in return 
until we have first learned the fact of his love. This new r 
love within our hearts has an expulsive power, casting out 
the love for sin. The process of gospel reformation is 



184 01 I J 8INS AND OUR SAVIOR. 

according to the law of substitution. When God would free 
us from any evil he does so by the substitution of the oppo- 
site good. As I would expel the darkness from a room by 
bringing in light, so he expels moral darkness from our 
hearts by bringing in moral light. On the Western prairies 
where rank and worthless grasses grow, beautiful pastures 
may be made by sowing the* seed of the blue grass ; so, by 
sowing inhuman hearts the good seed of the kingdom of God, 
may the worthless weeds of wickedness be destroyed. In- 
struction enlightens the understanding first ; but when this 
instruction is received into the heart by faith it purifies the 
heart. And this, not because of any inherent purifying 
virtue in faith itself, but because of the purifying nature of 
the message believed. Thus our corrupt hearts 

Like the stained web in the sun 

Grow pure by being purely shone upon. 

3. The perverted will must be rectified. As the heart is 
reached by the message of mercy through the understanding, 
so the will is reached through the heart. The correction of 
the perverted will is a pivotal point. An analysis of sin 
shows that its very essence is a wrong will. To will to sin 
is to sin, whether the purpose of the will finds opportunity 
to express itself in outward deed or not. There can, there- 
fore, be no salvation from sin until the will is rectified. 

In the Scriptures this change is called repentance, for if 
we make diligent search for the essence of repentance we 
will find that it is a change of the will with reference to sin. 
Even godly sorrow is not repentance. Paul says it worketh 
repentance. It changes the will. This is produced by the 
motives of the gospel. We find that apostles and other 
inspired preachers swept the entire range of motives, from 



OUR SINS AND OUR SAVIOR. 185 

the terrors of judgment to the goodness of God, in order to 
produce repentance. The individual will is right when it 
recognizes the divine will as its absolute Lord. 

4. The outward life must be reformed. This reforma- 
tion is the legitimate fruit of the rectified will. Genuine 
repentance leads to a reformation of life. John the Baptist 
preached repentance, and taught his converts to bring forth 
fruits mete for repentance. If the course of a ship is wrong 
it is in vain that the pilot seeks to correct it unless he 
changes the helm. But let that be properly adjusted and 
the ship begins at once to turn into its right course. The 
will is the helm in us. When that is set right a change ap- 
pears at once in the course of our lives. 

This change is manifest not only in our forsaking sins, 
but in our obedience to God. On the very branches where 
evil fruit once grew, now grows the fruit of righteousness. 
The powers once employed in the service of sin now become 
obedient servants unto God. 

All the changes which I have now named bear their legiti- 
mate fruit in good works under divine guidance. The under- 
standing enlightened by the gospel changes the heart ; the 
changed and purified heart rectifies the perverted will ; the 
rectified will corrects the evil life ; the reformed life adorns 
the gospel by good works. The man has become a new 
creature under the illuminating and transforming power of 
the gospel. But, were the work to cease here it would stop 
short of the demands of the case. It is true that so far as 
the man is considered within himself we may say that he has 
undergone a complete conversion. But more than this moral 
change is needed. 

5. His past sins call for an atonement. Let us suppose 
for instance, that the changes of which I have spoken, take 



18G OUR SINS AND OUR SAVIOR. 

place when he is forty years of age. His record lies behind 
him and that record is darkened by sin. He has no power 
to correct that record — he cannot obliterate one sin. Every 
sin must be either pardoned or punished. His own reforma- 
tion, however thorough it may be, has no merit to atone for 
these sins of the past. He remains, therefore, enthralled b} T 
his past and endangered by the sins it contains. What must 
be done? 

Just here, as I understand the matter, the atoning merit 
of Christ's death comes in. I can understand how all the 
changes which resulted in complete reformation could have 
been produced without the shedding of his blood ; but with- 
out the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, and 
without the remission of sins there cannot be a complete 
salvation from sin. So it is said " He died for our sins." 

The promise of the new covenant is ' l Your sins and your 
inquities will I remember no more," and this promise can be 
fulfilled because ' ' The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from 
all sins." Since he has died God can still be just and yet 
the justifier of them that believe in Jesus. The record of 
our sins is erased hy his blood, so that Paul could say ' ' There 
is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ 
Jesus." How precious is all this. Saved from sinning and 
saved from the condemnation of sin ! Reconciled, reformed, 
restored forgiven ! Yet this is not all. We need more to 
make our salvation from sin complete. 

6. Death is the child of sin, and death has dominion over 
us. Death itself must die. The child of God goes down to 
the grave. He is a victim of death, the insatiable monster. 
He must be rescued from death and the grave, and placed 
beyond the reach of their power. By the resurrection of 
Jesus himself we have the assurance that this will be done. 



OUR SINS AND OUR SAVIOR. 187 

He became subject to death that he might break its sceptre. 
In his resurrection he became the first fruits of the great 
harvest to be gathered from the grave. 

My hope of life and immortality is not based upon the dim 
deductions of reason, but upon the demonstration brought by 
Christ in his. own resurrection. By this he has begotten me 
again to a lively hope. Well may we exclaim with the 
apostle, i ' Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory 
through Jesus Christ our Savior." He robs the grave of its 
victims, and death of its terrors and power. 

When through him we shall stand upon the prostrate form 
of death and look into the empty graves where the ransomed 
have slept, when we shall find that through the merit of his 
atoning death and high priestly intercessions our sins have 
been blotted out and no condemnations rests before us, we 
shall begin to understand the full significance of that name 
which the angel announced when he said, " His name shall 
be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." 
This is the name that is above every name. When he hum- 
bled himself and took upon himself the form of a servant 
and was made in the likeness of man God gave him that 
name and he has decreed that before that blessed name every 
knee shall bow and every tongue confess. 

In conclusion : This is the salvation and this the Savior 
you need. You need to be saved from your sins. Perhaps you 
have been dreamily thinking that what you needed was to be 
taken to Heaven ; that if you were only in better surroundings 
your needs would be f ully met. But Heaven itself could not 
be Heaven to you covered with the leprosy of sin and alien- 
ated from God. Christ knows our wants. He saw that we 
needed to be saved from our sins, and his mission to man was 
to accomplish this salvation. The manner in which he pro- 
ceeds with this great work is eminently rational. He pro- 



188 



OUR SINS AND OUR SAVIOR. 



ceeds according to the* demands of the case and succeeds at 
each stage of the undertaking. He is just the Savior you 
need. 

But you cannot reasonably hope to be benefited by his 
salvation unless you follow his directions. There is some- 
thing for you to do. "Were you sick you would send for a 
physician, but however great might be his skill, you would 
not expect to be profited by it unless you followed his instruc- 
tions. So with Christ, our great physician. He asks you 
to hear the gospel, to believe it, to repent of your sins, to 
put him on in baptism, to follow him through evil as well as 
through good report. Will you do it ? "Will 3-ou now receive 
his message into } T our heart? Will you now confess him? 
Will you obey him and be saved from your sins and all their 
fearful consequences ? He is able to save unto the uttermost 
all who come unto God by him. 



CHRIST'S PURPOSES IN OUR CONVERSION. 

I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am 
apprehended of Christ Jesus. — Phil, iii :12. 

This text may appear obscure. Unless you have given it 
some attention already the simple reading of it may not con- 
vey any clear thought to your mind. For what can Paul 
mean when he says, "I follow after, if that I may appre- 
hend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus? " 
It is certain we cannot understand him until we know the 
meaning of apprehend as used in this connection, or rather, 
not until we know the meaning of the word which he used 
and which is here represented by the word apprehend. 

The idea in the word he used, is that of seizing hold 
upon. I think it clear that when he speaks of his having 
been apprehended by Christ Jesus he refers to his conver- 
sion. You remember that, armed with letters of authority 
from the Jewish Sanhedrim after he had aided in scattering 
the church in Jerusalem, he proceeded to Damascus to bring 
believers bound unto Jerusalem for punishment. And that 
when he was near that ancient city suddenly there appeared 
about him a light from heaven, brighter than the noondajr 
sun ; and that a voice spoke to him out of the brightness of 
that light sa} r ing, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" 
It was the voice of Christ Jesus. I need not repeat the 
entire story of Paul's conversion. You are familiar with it 
all. He was seized upon so suddenly and bound so strongly 
to Christ that it seemed to him as an arrest, and he speaks of 
it as having been apprehended by Christ. 

(189) 



190 Christ's purposes in our conversion. 

But what does he mean by saying that he was striving to 
apprehend that for which he was apprehended ? The idea 
seemed to be that he was earnestly endeavoring to seize hold 
upon that for which Christ had seized hold upon him ; that 
when Christ laid hold upon him and turned him from] his 
course of bloody persecution it was that -he might in him, 
and through him, accomplish certain purposes, and that these 
purposes of Christ became the controlling purposes of all 
his after life. The text, therefore, gives us the secret of 
Paul's wonderful life and ministry. It contains the key to 
his life-work. It gives us that which made him the strong, 
brave man that he was. For all that he* endured and did, 
all that he taught and accomplished, from the moment of his 
conversion until the day of his death, is to be traced to these 
purposes in his heart. 

Every Christian life should be like Paul's in this. In 
every conversion Christ has ultimate purposes, and these 
should become the controlling purposes in each individual 
life. And so, he exhorts his brethren to be like-minded, to 
walk by the same rule, to mind the same thing, to be follow- 
ers together with himself, and to mark them that walk ac- 
cording to his example. The text, therefore, gives us not 
only the controlling principle in Paul's life, but it gives us 
at the same time, that which should be the controlling prin- 
ciple in each Christian life. The purposes of Christ in our 
conversion should become the controlling purposes in all our 
after-life. 

What, then, are these ultimate purposes in our conversion? 
becomes a question of vital importance. For it is evident 
that if we do not understand what these are we cannot 
understand the nature of the life to which we have been 
called. 

There is a view of this matter too narrow, too hurtful in 



Christ's purposes in our conversion. 191 

its effect to be received by us, and yet too generally 
accepted. It is that the only end to which conversion looks 
is final reception into heaven. And } T et if this be true there 
are certain things in the divine economy I cannot under- 
stand. Chief among these I place the fact that God leaves 
his children in this world after their conversion. But why 
leave them here after their conversion? Why not take 
them to heaven at once, if that be the only end had in view? 
After they have been reconciled by the power of the cross, 
after they have been forgiven through the merit of its blood, 
after they have been adopted into the family of God accord- 
ing to his marvellous grace, why delay their admission to 
heaven. The very fact that God leaves them in this world 
is a demonstration to my mind that there is something he 
would accomplish in them and by them in this world before 
he takes them to that What, then, are some of these 
things ? 

1. First, that we may be developed into the image of 
Christ. 

I believe in predestination. I believe in the doctrine of 
predestination because Paul teaches it ; and, for the same 
reason I believe in just that predestination which he teaches. 
He teaches that we are predestinated to be conformed to the 
image of God's Son. But conformity to the image of Christ 
is conformity to his character ; and character is the result of 
growth. Character is not a gift. We may inherit tendencies 
which largely determine what our character shall be, but we 
cannot inherit character itself. That must, from its very 
nature, be the result of growth. Strictly speaking, we can- 
not say that an infant has any character. It is born with a 
bias, and this, in conjunction with its environments, will 
shape its ultimate character. If, then, character is the 



192 



Christ's purposes in our conversion. 



result of growth, and if we are to be conformed to the 
character of Christ, we need time in which to grow. 

But, you may ask, does not conversion itself, when genuine, 
accomplish this? I answer, No. Conversion, however 
radical it may be is but the turning point in one's life ; the 
journey must be, travelled afterward. It contains but the 
seeds from which the harvest must grow. In conversion a 
reclined will ascends the throne and the work of its adminis- 
tration is begun. 

The nature of the results accomplished by conversion, and 
the character of the work to be done after that, may be illus- 
trated by the entrance of the Israelites into the land of pro- 
mise, and the work they were required to do after this coun- 
try had been formally turned over to them. When the walls 
of Jericho had been hurled down by unseen hands, and Aj 
and many other places hud been taken, and many kings had 
been conquered, the land was divided and assigned to the 
tribes by lot. It was claimed as Jehovah's land. His 
banner was set up and the whole country formally given to 
his people. But though this given to them, was it fully 
theirs? No ; for remnants of original tribes were still there. 
These were to be subdued. Again and again did they rise 
up in rebellion and trouble Israel. Many bloody wars had 
to be fought before the land was wholly theirs. So is it with 
us. In conversion the victory is so far gained that the 
government within is formally turned over to Christ. He is 
enthroned in the heart. But, though this is done, there yet 
remains much evil within. Again and again does this rise 
up in rebellion. Battles are to be fought until every thought 
and imagination of the hear* is brought into subjection to 
Christ. Christ is to be so completely formed in us that 
every power of mind and body shall become his willing 
servant. 



CHRIST'S PURPOSES IN OUR CONVERSION. 193 

I believe that this world, where God leaves us, is the best 
place for the accomplishing of this work. It is his training 
school — his drill ground. We find here the discipline we 
need. Ouf life is not one of ceaseless, cloudless sunshine. 
It has its disappointments, Its trials, its burdens, its griefs ; 
but if we are properly exercised by these they must con- 
tribute to our highest good. In the processes of nature 
winter has its work as well as spring and summer and 
autumn ; and adversity has its place in the processes of 
grace. 

When the precious metal is taken from the mine could it 
but feel and speak it would doubtless say, " Oh, how glad 
I am that you have taken me from the mine — from darkness 
and solitude and silence. I am so glad to be brought up to 
the beautiful sunlight and the homes of men." But, by and 
by, it is cast into the hot furnace and passes under heavy 
hammers. Then it cries out for pain. It had thought the 
whole work was done when it was brought up out of the 
mine. But it goes through the furnace and under the 
hammer, through the furnace and under the hammer, until 
at last it comes out of these burnings and beatings, shining 
with new lustre and stamped with a new image. This is the 
meaning of our furnaces of sorrow and the heavy strokes of 
affliction which fall upon us. 

There is a kind of pear that will not ripen well on the 
tree. It is plucked from the bough and laid away in a dark 
place to become sweet and mellow. Could they but speak how 
would they cry out for pain when plucked, and how would they 
moan in sadness when laid away. "Oh, why so cruelly 
tear us away from the branches to which we cling with tena- 
cious hold? Why take us from the kisses of the sunlight 
and the caresses of the gentle summer winds and hide us 
away in solitude and darkless?" And so they moan. 

13 



^_^_ 



194 Christ's purposes in our conversion. 

But their days of darkness are numbered and they are 
brought forth ripe and mellow and luscious. So, it seems to 
me, God sometimes breaks us from the boughs to which we 
most firmly hold and places us in the silence and darkness of 
a great sorrow to enrich us. From these we come forth ripe 
and mellow in heart. 

Let us not forget the exhortation that speaks to us as unto 
children, saying, " My son, despise not thou the chasten- 
ing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him ; 
for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every 
son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening God deal- 
eth with you as with sons ; for what son is he whom the 
father chasteneth not? * * * Now, no chastening for 
the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous ; nevertheless 
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness 
unto those who are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up 
the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees ; and make 
straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned 
out of the way ; but rather let* it be healed. ' ' 

We are turned to Christ to grow like him. Afflictions aid 
in the accomplishment of this. 

2. A second purpose of our conversion is that we may be- 
come co-laborers with God in the accomplishment of his 
gracious purposes concerning others. 

This was prominent in Paul's conversion. In the account 
of it given in his speech before Agrippa he tells how the 
Lord said to him, " I have appeared unto thee for this pur- 
pose ; to make thee a minister and a witness of these things 
which thou hast seen and of those things in which I will 
appear unto thee ; delivering thee from the people and from 
the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, 
and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power 
of Satan unto God, that they may receive the forgiveness of 



Christ's purposes in our conversion. 195 

sins, and inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith 
that is in me." From the moment of his conversion, Paul 
acknowledged himself a servant of Jesus Christ, both in 
speech and in deed. 

Our conversion means a call to work for our Master. 
" Ye are not your own ; }^e have been bought with a price : 
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which 
are God's." ' l Ye are the light of the world," says Christ, 
and then adds, * ' Let your light so shine before men, that they 
may see your good works, and glorifj' your Father which is in 
heaven. ' ' Light does not exist for itself. It exists to shine, 
and it shines for others. So the Christian does not live for 
self, — he lives to shine, and he shines for other's good and 
God's glory. 

What is the meaning of Christ's parable of the laborers 
in the vineyard, found in the twentieth chapter of Matthew? 
You remember he says the kingdom of heaven is like a 
householder who went out early in the morning to hire la- 
borers into his vineyard ; and that he went out again about 
the third hour, and again about the sixth hour, and again 
about the ninth hour, and finally about the eleventh hour, 
and that each time he found men idle in the market place and 
sent them into the vineyard. Now ,what does all this 
teach? 

"I know what that teaches," says one, " for I've heard 
it preached on often. It means that God is debtor unto no 
man. That is what it means." "No," says another, "I 
think that Christ therein sets forth the various cases of di- 
vine mercy to our race, beginning away back in the early 
morning of time and extending to the eleventh hour of the 
world' s history when the last case was extended through the 
gospel. The reckoning at evening represents the final judg- 
ment in which all mu it appear. That is what I think the par- 



196 Christ's purposes in our conversion. 

able means." "Not exactly this," saj-s another, "for I 
think the day of the parable represents the day of each in- 
dividual life, and the different hours the Master went to the 
market place represents the different calls of the gospel, 
beginning in youth and extending to old age, and that the 
man who delayed until the eleventh hour and yet received 
as much as those who bore the heat and burden of the day 
is designed to teach us that conversion in old age will meet 
with as rich a reward as conversion in 3011th." 

Well, whether correct in either point or not, I am sure 
you are mistaken as to the meaning of the eleventh hour 
man. He did not delay, but accepted as soon as called. 

But there is one thought which lies upon the surface of 
this parable, and yet it seems to have been overlooked. It 
is this: the great desire of this householder to secure 
laborers. This is shown, in the first place, by the fact that 
he went out so early in the morning to seek them; in the 
second place, by the fact that he went out so frequently 
during the day ; and finally, by the fact that he continued to 
look for laborers until the day was almost gone. He is rep- 
resented as being very earnest in his search for laborers to 
go into his vineyard. . No doubt he represents Christ, so the 
parable becomes to us a revelation of Christ's great desire 
for laborers to enter his vineyard. 

Then another point : every call was a call to work. From 
first to last no other invitation was extended. He might 
have extended others, but it is significant that he did not. 
He might have said to some, "This market-place is not a 
pleasant place to spend your leisure. I have a beautiful 
vineyard near by. Go into that and rest under the shade 
of the trees. " He might have said that — but he did not. 
Or he might have said to some of these idlers, "You can 
enjoy j^ourselves much more in my vineyard than here, I 
have luscious grapes, and wine old and mellow. Go into 



Christ's purposes in our conversion. 197 

my vineyard and enjoy yourselves." He might have said 
this — but he did not. Or, again, he might have said to 
others, " I have sent several men into my vineyard to work 
to-day, I do not ask you to go into my vineyard to work, 
but I would be glad to have you take oversight of them and 
see that they do not idle their time away. " He might have 
said this — but he did not. From first to last, from oldest to 
youngest, the invitation was to go into his vineyard and 
work. 

This is a practical lesson and much needed. Some in the 
church seem to think they have been invited to rest. They 
do nothing. All the burdens of the church are borne by 
others. In most of our churches a very small percentage 
of the membership does the work. The majority have come 
in to rest. Well, I think we would be better off without 
them, and that they have made a mistake in taking member- 
ship with us. In New York there is an organization called 
"The Church of the Heavenly Rest, " and their member- 
ship should be in that. We desire this church to be " The 
Church of Heavenly Work. " 

Others are looking for enjoyment. Religion with them is 
something to be enjoyed. That's the prominent idea. They 
are looking for the good wine, and complain if they do not 
find it. How many complain that they do not enjoy their 
religion ; how few that they cannot find work ! Yet, if you 
are a Christian, the call you have accepted was a call to 
work. Christ has issued no other. The last commission he 
has given is as wide as the church. It is a commission to 
every member — " Let him that hsareth say, come." Have 
you heard? Then, in someway, you must say, Come. If 
3^ou do not aid in extending the invitation you are unfaith- 
ful to your Lord. 

An examination of the life and writings of Paul would 



198 Christ's purposes in our conversion. 

show that these two thoughts were the prominent ones in 
his conception of the Christian calling. The building up 
manhood and womanhood after the divine pattern was the 
controlling purpose of his ministry. Before this all other 
questions appear of little worth. The questions of fasts and 
feasts, of meats and days which his converts propounded to 
him were speedily answered by the application of some broad 
fundamental principle, and then he rises to the ruling thought. 
All things were to serve that. Ah, how the church has suf- 
fered from small minds agitating small questions ! Let us 
cultivate some of the largeness which characterized Paul. 
Let us be forever done with small questions, and let us give 
heed to character-building. 

Paul thought of himself as a servant. His conversion 
was to him a call to service. The story of his conversion 
closes with the statement, ' ' And straightway he preached 
Christ in the sjmagogues. " No time was lost. No perse- 
cutions could turn him back, chains and prisons could not 
cause him to cease from his work. He delighted to call him- 
self a servant of Jesus Christ. To the elders of the church 
at Ephesns he said, " Behold, I go bound in spirit to Jeru- 
salem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there ; save 
that the Holy Spirit witnesseth in every city, saying that 
bonds and afflictions wait for me. But none of these things 
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I 
might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I 
have received of the Lord Jesus. " Brave, true man, and 
faithful servant, may we have something of tlry spirit ! 

3. The third among the purposes which lie enwrapped in 
our conversion is that we may be glorified in heaven. As 
Paul's life drew to a close he said, " I am now ready to be 
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have 
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept 






Christ's purposes in our conversion. 199 

the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give 
me at that day. " Through the discipline of life he had 
made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. He 
had been faithful as a servant all during the day of life ; and 
now, in its close he is cheered and comforted by the thought 
of the inheritance and the promised rest. The full meaning 
of conversion will then have been realized. Its purposes, in 
each case, are at least three — growth, labor, rest. 

I desire to urge you, in conclusion, to take more practical 
views of the Christian calling. When Christ lays hold upon 
us by the power of the gospel and turns us to himself the 
matter does not end there ; nor are we to suppose he intends 
us to dream the day away, looking and longing for the glory 
and the rest that remain for the people of God. He calls 
us to growth and to labor for the good of others. The 
Christian life is full of activity. Let it be so with us. It 
means growth into Christliness. Let that be our aim. And 
then when the discipline has been endured and the labor 
assigned us has been faithfully performed, there will come 
to us the call of the Master to eternal rest and fadeless 
glory 



CHRISTLESS REFORMATION. 

When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in 
peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and 
overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, 
and divideth his spoils. * * * When the unclean spirit is gone 
out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and 
finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came 
out. And when he cometh, he flndeth it's wept and garnished. Then 
goeth he and taketh to him seven .other spirits more wicked than 
himself; and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of 
that man is worse than the first. — Luke xi. : 21-26 

This brings us face to face with a curious question — the 
question of demoniacal possession. Many other incidents 
in the gospel narratives bring up the same question, for 
Christ was frequently met by those under the domination of 
evil spirits and many of his miracles consisted of their exor- 
cism. Nor is the mention of this possession by evil spirits 
confined to these records of the evangelists. We find men- 
tion of the same thing in cotemporaneous secular history. 

The Jews accounted for it in different ways. Some, for 
instance, regarded it as an affliction sent because of a neg- 
lect of the temple services ; others regarded it as a result of 
and a punishment for eating swine's flesh; while others sup- 
posed that it come of building houses among tombs or over 
graves ; and yet others, of a more philosophic turn of mind, 
attributed it to climatic influences, and pointed to the fact 
that it was more common in the regions about the sea of 
Galilee than elsewhere. 

But, did Christ regard demoniacal possessions as a fact, 
or did he simply accommodate himself to the popular view 
and make it do service in his work and teaching? He cer- 
(200) 



CHRISTLESS REFORMATION. 201 

tainly everywhere speaks of demoniacs, not as person i of 
merely disordered intellects, nor yet as of persons deeply 
depraved, but as subjects and thralls of an alien spiritual 
weight. Was this, luwever, a case of accommodation? I 
think not ; for tie addresses the e\ r il spirit as distinct from 
the man : ' ' Hold thy peace, and come out of him ' - And even 
in his private conversations with his disciples, he uses similar 
language, saying to them, " This kind goeth not out but by 
prayer and fasting." Jf the popular idea was erroneous it 
was an error too grave to have been adopted by Christ. It 
is also radically opposed to his character as a teacher of 
truth to su pose that he could adopt it and act upon it. I 
must conclude, both from the language which he employed 
and from the manner in which he treated these cases, that 
he regarded the possession as real. 

Enough, however, of these curious questions. Yet I could 
not enter upon the practical use I propose making of the 
text until I had given them some attention. 

I. These demoniacs may be considered as in some sense 
typical of the morally depraved; and their healing may 
serve to illustrate Christ's work in saving men. 

In the demoniac there seemed to be at least two personal- 
ities in one body, — the evil spirit and the man's own spirit. 
The evil spirit held the reins : it sat upon the throne. It 
would speak with his tongue, and controlled every member 
of his body. It chained his will and hurried him on toward the 
precipice. Now and then the man appeared to be in his right 
mind — he would come to himself. But it was for only a 
short time. The evil spirit would again trample his own 
spirit into subjugation and play havoc. As between his own 
and the evil spirit we find first one in the ascendency and 
then the other. When the evil spirit ruled he was ruined ; 
when his own ruled he was right — '• he was his true self. 



202 CHRISTLESS REFORMATION. 

So of wicked men. In all men there are, as it were, two 
natures — good and evil. What any individual man may be 
morally depends upon which rules. For in what do men dif- 
fer, as to morals, but in this? Good and evil are in each. 
There is none so good but that evil is in him, and none so 
bad but that good is in him. In what, then, does the wicked 
differ from the good? Not that one has a single faculty or 
gift or organ wanting in the other. Only in this do they 
differ — in the wicked the evil is regnant; in the other, the 
good. In every man there are the basilar passions and in- 
stincts. These belong at the bottom. If they come to the 
top and sit on the throne he must be a bad man. If the 
good is on the throne — if he lives out of his best moments 
and from his holiest promptings — he must be a good man. 

What, then, is needed to make the wicked become righteous ? 
You answer, they need conversion. Yes, but that word has 
been used so long, and often so roughly in theological war- 
fare, that it has lost its freshness and much of its meaning. 
Its vitality has been crushed out of it. Not conversion, but 
in- version, is what is needed. Place the. spiritual on the 
throne and the carnal on the footstool. Every faculty, 
every power remains, but their government has been changed. 
This Christ does for us by his gospel. He is the stronger 
man who enters in and strips the usurper of his armor. He 
casts down the evil and brings into captivity every thought 
and imagination of the heart to the good. He works a moral 
revolution. Every faculty and power remains, but their uses 
are changed. It is for this reason that we so often find the 
actively, positively wicked make the most useful Christians. 
See Paul. He was full of energy in his wickedness, he was 
strong in the service of evil. When the change occurred 
within him he became the most useful of all the servants of 
Christ, His was a change of masters within. His best 



CHRISTLESS REFORMATION. 203 

nature, through the aid of Christ, rose to the throne, and this 
turned his life into a new path. 

II. But this is not all. Each part of the text is the counter- 
part of the other, and by taking the two parts together we 
have an illustration of the fact that only the reformation 
which takes in Christ can hope to be enduring. For it matters 
not how thorough the change for good, called conversion, 
may be, we will be subject to subsequent attacks of evil. 
Luke tells us that when the evil spirit came back he found 
the house swept and garnished, and Matthew gives us the 
additional word, full of significance, it was empty. This 
very emptiness invited a return. 

For some reason the evil had disappeared for awhile. It 
may have been fear of consequences or the rebellious upris- 
ing of good — we know not just how it was produced. But 
however produced we know there was no strong man within 
to prevent return. The house was empty, though swept 
and garnished. 

Thus some men reform. They say, "The life I'm lead- 
ing is too bad. I must reform. My vices must be given 
up." So he begins to sweep. Here goes drinking. Here 
goes profanity. Here go revellings. Here goes churlishness 
at home. Here goes a great cobweb filled with dead flies of 
sensuality. How he sweeps ! Then he garnishes the walls. 
He covers them with bright promises, and adorns them with 
good resolutions. ' ' What an improvement, ' ' says the world. 
Yes, but the house is empty. No strong man, with his armor, 
dwelling within to keep it. This emptiness invites a tenant. 
The evil spirit, with seven others even worse than he, 
returns and enters. What a picture of negative goodness — 
of Christless reformation ! The evil driven out, but no strong 
positive good to fill the place made vacant. 

Were we to desire to remove the dead leaves from the 



204 OHKISTLESS REFORMATION. 

branches of the old conservative oak, it would be a tedious 
undertaking to climb among these branches and clip off these 
leaves, one at a time. That is not nature's way of removing 
them. Every spring these dead leaves are removed — but 
how? When the days grow longer, as the sun moves up 
along a higher pathway, and the soft breath of the south 
wind breathes through the branches, a current of new life 
begins to flow. It moves out through the branches causing 
the tender buds of a new life to swell and the old dead leaves 
to fall away. This is God's way. 

So was it with you wjjen the love of Christ within your 
heart began to control your life. You had tried reformation 
before, but it was a negative, a Christless reformation. You 
had selected this fault or that vice, and said, " I will cut it 
off. I will cease from this evil way. I will cast it out and 
will sweep and garnish and purify myself." But your 
success was only partial and temporary. The evil returned 
and found you empty and hungering for it. It came in 
with increased power. Often you had been brought to the 
very point of accepting Christ. Yet you did not consent to 
admit him to your heart. Finally, under a powerful appeal, 
you surrendered. You came before the people, a penitent 
believer, and confessed the faith of your heart in Christ 
Jesus as God's Son and your Savior. You were baptized. 
From the baptismal grave you arose to walk in newness of 
life. Happy in your new love you go on your way rejoicing. 
After a few days you miss this fault, and this, and this. 
What has become of them? You formed no specific resolu- 
tion with reference to each; you did not consciously cut it 
off. Christ formed in you did the work. There was an ex- 
pulsive power in j^our 'new affection. You shed your vices 
as the tree shed its leaves. A new inspiration gave you a 
new life. 



CHRISTLESS REFORMATION. 205 

There is a profound philosophy in the text when consid- 
ered thus. I wish to farther apply it. 

1. First, to preaching. We denounce specific sins. We 
disclaim against the unworthiness*and evanesence of earthly 
indulgences as objects of affection, and then wonder that our 
efforts to reform men from worldliness and wickedness is not 
more successful. We seek to cast out evil without implant- 
ing and strengthening its opposite good. We undertake to 
sweep and garnish and yet leave the heart empty. A study 
of the wants of human nature, and of the history of its 
renovation, will show that this process is defective. . If we 
would successfully and permanently transform men it must 
be done by renewing their minds. If we would expel un- 
worthy affections and lusts it must be by implanting affec- 
tions nobler and stronger. We need to quicken a new love 
until it becomes so full and strong and dominant that it will 
by its very strength expel the old. 

Dr. Chalmers has truly said, " The ascendant power of a 
second affection will do what no exposition, however forci- 
ble of the folly and worthlessness of the first, ever could 
effectuate." And it is the same in the great world. We shall 
never be able to arrest any of the leading pursuits by a 
naked demonstration of their vanity. It is quite in vain to 
think of stopping one of these pursuits in any way else, but 
by stimulating to another. In attempting to bring a worldly 
man, intent and busied with the prosecution of his objects, 
to a dead stand we have not merely to encounter the charm 
which he annexes to these objects — we have to encounter 
the pleasure which he feels in the very prosecution of them. 
We must address to the eye of his mind another object, 
with a charm powerful enough to dispossess the first of its 
influences, and to engage him in some other prosecution as 
full of interest and hope and congenial activity as the 



206 CHRISTLESS REFORMATION. 

former. It is this which stamps an impotency on all moral 
and pathetic declamation about the insignificance of the 
world. If to be without desire and without exertion alto- 
gether is a state of violence and discomfort, then the present 
desire, with its correspondent train of exertion, is not to be 
got rid of simply by destroying it. It must be by substi- 
tuting another desire, and another line or habit of exertion 
in its 'place. " In short, the process of gospel reformation 
is according to the law of substitution. One affection is 
displaced by the substitution of its opposite and stronger 
affection. 

We need to put Christ into the heart as the strong man, 
well-armed, and able to keep it. He will cast out every evil 
and unclean thing. As he drove the cattle and the money- 
changers from the temple and purified it, so will he drive out 
evil thought, unholy purposes, unworthy affections from our 
hearts. Christ formed in the heart makes reformation 
natural, thorough and permanent. 

2. This principle finds an important field for its applica- 
tion in the matter of church government and development. 

Some are saying we need a stronger, more compact and 
authoritative organization of our churches. This is the 
remedy the}^ have to suggest for almost every trouble. They 
hold that although the New Testament churches may have 
had the simple congregational form, and although that may 
have met the demands of the situation then, such a form is 
not sufficient now. We need something stronger. Well, 
this may all be true ; but I don't believe it. Yet I am no 
great stickler for the details of any particular form of church 
government. I believe the Scriptures leave some room for 
the exercise of sanctified common sense in such matters. 
I cannot, however, agree with those who think that a modi- 
fication of church organization and government is our great 



CHRISTLESS REFORMATION. 207 

need in church life. Certainly, something is needed, how- 
ever. 

Others say we need more thorough discipline, and by more 
thorough discipline they usually mean excommunication. 
They would improve our churches by a kind of ecclesiastical 
police regulation, and garnish it with exact observances. 
They would keep the church pure by the outward enforce- 
ment of rules, and the prompt exclusion of every offender. 
Well, it cannot be denied that the church should be purer 
than it is, and that wisely administered discipline would con- 
tribute toward this end. But let us not suppose that the 
church is for the perfect only. It is a hospital, rather — a 
place for healing and for help. Do not be in too great haste 
to cast weak men and women out. What would you think 
if one should exclude from a hospital all 'but those of sound 
health and able bodies? In my judgment it is not by any 
modification of church government, nor by a more rigid en- 
forcement of outward restraints that the vital wants in our 
churches are to be met. We need more religion. We need 
more of the mind of Christ in us. We need to have him 
formed within us, so that he shall sivay our hearts and direct 
our lives. A friend of mine once said, " If the New Testa- 
ment has made any mistake in the matter of church govern- 
ment it is in taking it for granted that churches of Christ 
' would be easily governed — that they would really need but 
little outward and formal government." This remark may 
appear simple, but it is wise — for the New Testament does 
not undertake to govern by outward restraints, but by inward 
inspirations, by broad principles implanted in hearts, by lofty 
motives, by the supremacy of love. Let these be in our 
hearts and a thousand problems of church government are 
solved, and a thousand difficulties vanish as the mist. 

This principle finds numerous applications, but I have not 



208 CHKISTLESS REFORMATION. 

time to point them out this evening. Follow up in your 
own thinking, the line suggested. Wherever men are to be 
reclaimed from overmastering sins, wherever the power of 
dominant evil is to be broken, wherever iniquity is to be up- 
rooted, wherever a work of moral reformation is needed, 
wherever society needs purifying, wherever temples need 
cleansing, bring in Christ. His presence is purifying, and he 
is the strong man able to resist successfully the attacks of 
returning evil. Without him the work must be difficult and 
uncertain. 

III. One other item remains to be presented, and though 
a dark, sad one, it adds force to what has been already said, 
"The last state of that man" — the man whose reform- 
ation was only negative, and which left him^empty — "the 
last state of that man was worse than the first. " His 
reformation was followed by apostasy. The relapse was 
worse than the first sickness. Evil returned with greater 
power. So have I seen it in many cases, and the reasons 
are not far to seek. 

(1.) A weakening process is going on in himself by these 
relapses. His will loses its strength. Overcome again and 
again it becomes enfeebled. He loses confidence in himself 
and the inspiration which comes from the hope of success. 

(2.) There is a growing process of evil. Some plants 
when cut off spring up with a more vigorous growth. So 
when evils spring up again after they have been Cut down 
they appear more vigorous. A Christless, abortive reform- 
ation gives vice an advantage. 

(3.) The influences from without which led him to cleanse 
his ways are losing their power. His sensibilities become 
deadened. That to which he once responded does not touch 
him now. One can become past feeling, and have to be 
given over to hardness of heart. 



CHRISTLESS REFORMATION. 209 

How was Christ speaking to the facts in the case when he 
said, "The last state of that man is worse than the first! " 
• To you who are fighting against evil, and besetting sins, 
struggling in vain to be free, I come with a message of sym- 
pathy and help. Do not undertake to overcome Satan 
single-handed. Do not strive to cast out evil, leaving your 
heart empty. Christ stands at the door, knocking for 
admission. Let him in, and as rays of light drive out dark- 
ness so will the brightness of his pure presence cleanse your 
heart and reform your life. Open wide your heart and say, 
"Dear Savior, come in and deliver me from the bondage of 
sin ; come in and nurture all good, come in and drive out 
as thou didst drive out the polluting things from the temple 
of old. I am weak. I need thee to make me strong. 
Come in, O thou mighty Savior, come in. " So welcome 
Christ to your hearts and you shall be strong and victorious. 

14 



THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such 
there is no law. — Gal. v : 22-23. 

Fruit signifies the fullness of growth ; it marks the limit 
of development. First the blade, then the stalk, then the 
ear, after that the full corn in the ear, and after that — 
nothing. You may pluck the seed again and it will spring 
up, pass through the same stages of growth and reach the 
same end. This is the process both in nature and in 
grace. 

When, therefore, Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit I 
understand that he means the fullness of growth under the 
multiform working of the Holy Spirit. It is not my purpose 
this morning to deal with the ways in which the Spirit does 
this work. We know that the Scriptures teach that he is en- 
gaged in our recovery from sin, — that he teaches, comforts, 
strengthens, sanctifies, — and this simple fact is enough for 
us to know and recognize just now. Paul is describing the 
full outcome of all he does, in whatever way he may accom- 
plish it, when he speaks in the text of the fruit of the Spirit. 
Just as we would speak of the fruit of a man's labors, mean- 
ng by that the fullest, highest results of all he has done, so 
Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit, meaning the large- 
ness of growth and development under the ministry of the 
Holy Spirit. 

Has it never arrested your attention that Paul used the 
singular instead of the plural in this connection?- He does 

f210) 



THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 211 

not say, as he is usually quoted as saying, the fruits, but the 
fruit. When, in .the verses just before, he gives us along 
dark catalogue of vice, he uses the plural, saying, the works 
of the flesh. Why not use the plural here and say the fruits 
of the spirit ? This appears only the more remarkable when 
we notice he mentions nine different things immediately 
afterward. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, etc. There is a remarkable unity in his view 
of these matters. In his conception of them there was a 
striking oneness. How do j^ou account for this ? 

It seems to me the most rational and simple explanation 
is that he looked upon well developed Christian characters as 
the fruit, and these things, named in the text, as its charac- 
teristic qualites. Should I point to a tree and say the fruit 
of this tree is rich and red and sweet and mellow you , would 
not understand that the tree bore four different fruits, but 
would readily understand that fruit was one and these were 
the characteristic qualities of that fruit. So I understand 
Paul here. The fruit of the Spirit is fully developed Christ- 
tian character, while love, joy, peace, long-suffering, etc., are 
its characteristic qualities. Or, to put the thought in an- 
nother form, he does for full-grown Christian manhood what 
phrenologists undertake to do — he reads its character and 
then indicates it, as it were, on a chart. Here is a man long 
under the guidance and power of the Spirit. His whole char- 
acter has been moulded and fashioned by the Holy Spirit. 
Paul examines him and says, " Love is strong, joy is deep 
and full, peace, long-suffering, gentleness and all the other 
qualities are well developed. This character is the fruit of 
the Spirit." This view of the passage, suggests some things 
concerning the nature of Christian life which I desire to 
present, and which I trust may be helpful to you. 

It presents a model after which to pattern our lives and a 



212 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 

standard by which to measure our Christian growth. The 
very fact that it presents full-grown manhood in Christ Jesus 
gives it these important functions. 

It is to be eared that exhortations to grow in grace often 
fail to accomplish any definite good simply because of the 
vague conception convej^ed by them. To many it means 
religious ecstasy. To grow in grace is to have the emotions 
strongly moved. If they can work themselves up to a frenzy 
of religious enthusiasm, if they can be borne above the 
plane of ordinary feeling until their brows seem fanned by 
the breezes of Paradise and they hear the strains of heavenly 
anthems, they vainly imagine they are growing in grade. I 
do not speak against deep feelings. I do not object to 
emotion, strong and full. I would that our religious emo- 
tions were more deeply moved. Growth may be helped by 
such experiences ; but they are not growth. Often the}' are 
like balloon ascensions, elevating, exhilerating and transport- 
ing, yet frequently followed by collapse and disaster. 
Growth in grace is something more gradual, more practical, 
more lasting than emotion. It is the development of char- 
acter along certain lines, according to a given model, and 
under the inspiration of the gospel motives. Christian 
growth is more than religious ecstasy, although that ecstasy 
may partake of some permanency. It is an increase in 
the -qualities of character -named in the text until they be- 
come the strongly marked features # of our character. 

Few things can help us so much in right living or con- 
tribute so effectually to our Christian growth as to have a 
clear conception of what God would have us become in 
Christ. If you have never'seriously asked yourself the ques- 
tion what, above all things, would he have me be in character, 
I suggest it to you as worthy of your earnest thought. What 
is the ultimate aim of all training, what the purpose of all 



THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 213 

instruction, of all examples, of all promises? Peter plainly 
gives the practical use of all divine promises when he says, 
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious 
promises that by these we might be made partakers of the 
divine nature." The features of character presented in the 
text are the ones which should appear in our lives. They 
mark full growth. The more we have of these elements 
harmoniously combined within us the more of divine man- 
hood do we have. It is a character in which love is the 
central principle, joy is bright with heavenly radiance, peace 
flows as a river, long-suffering is without murmuring, and 
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance are 
manifest to all. A perfect man is Christ Jesus. 

The text furnishes a standard by which to measure our 
attainments in the Christian life. We need a true and 
worthy standard. There are unworthy ones, and we are in 
danger of deceiving ourselves by them. To some it is sound- 
ness of doctrine. They measure themselves by church 
standards. If they clearly conceive and fully believe what 
their church accepts and teaches as true they are satisfied. 
The standard they recognize is the standard of orthodoxy. 
Not what they are, but what they believe is the substance of 
their religion. They vainly imagine they are right, because 
they profess to believe that which is declared to be true. I 
hold it to be one of the darkest blots resting upon the 
history of the church that it has in so many cases exalted 
subscription to doctrine above uprightness and purity of 
character. The questions which have divided the church and 
have led to excommunication and persecution have often been 
concerning matters which should have been treated as matters 
of indifference. And it is a sad fact that in our own day the 
faithful adherent to the creed hides a multitude of sins by this 
fidelity, while the so-called heretic, though devoted to Christ 



214 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 

and the highest good of his fellow-man is excommunicated 
and anathematized. I hold that the brightest fruit of 
Christianity is character rather than creed, and that this 
fact should receive the practical recognition which it legiti- 
mately demands. Soundness of heart, the orthodoxy of 
purpose, the rectitute of life, the nobility of character, have 
not received the consideration which' they justly merit. I 
would not underestimate the importance of right thinking, 
but I would exalt the worth of right living. Religion is life. 
Its product is character. 

There is another delusion which I fear will prove the ruin 
of some. It is the idea that church connection, church 
membership, is the decisive point. The first question with 
them is, "Of what church are you a member ? ' ' The answer 
to that decides the whole case. They seem to think that the 
Lord estimates according to this, and that according to it he 
will judge us in the last day. With them it comes prac- 
tically to this — if you are a member of the right religious 
body you are all right, but if you are not a member of that 
body you are not a Christian. Their chief concern is to 
establish the claims of their ecclesiastical organization. They 
aim above all things to demonstrate that it is evangelical 
and orthodox and apostolic, etc. Well, it may be all that — 
it may be all you claim for it — and you may be enrolled as 
a member of it, but that should not be enough to satisfy you. 
Do you not remember that in one of the parables of our 
Lord we read of a certain man who was in the midst of a 
multitude where all were accepted but himself? He had not 
on the wedding garment. The inspection there was personal. 
So will it be when our Master comes, to reckon. I pray you 
place high above intellectual orthodox}-, above church con- 
nection, even above Christian doing, the thought of right 
character. Three verbs can express all of personal religion — 



THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: 215 

to believe, to do, to be. Their natural sequence, as well as 
their grade of worth, is found in the order in which I have 
named them. From believing we rise to doing, and from 
these develop into being. That is character. 

Suppose I am a Christian. I should grow. But in what 
directions ? What must be developed in order to make me 
a better Christian than I am ? I place myself by this fully 
developed christian character which Paul delineates in the 
text to learn what is wanting in my character. Look upon 
that The first thing which arrests your attention is love. It 
was not by chance that Paul mentioned it first. Am I defi- 
cient in love — in breadth, in depth, in richness, in strength, 
in sweetness ? How is it with my love as a Christian ? It 
will not satisfy the full demands made upon my heart to say 
that I love only those who belong to the circle of my per- 
sonal friends, or to limit my love to the membership of my 
own church. Christian love in its fulness must be Christ- 
like love. It must extend to all classes, reaching up to the 
highest and descending to the Lowest. It must overleap 
denominational boundaries. It must sweep out in its catholic 
spirit until it reaches all ranks. It must become a strong, 
genuine philanthrophy. I must enlarge my affections until 
I love man as man, without regard to nation, creed or con- 
dition. My heart must be knit to every one who loves the 
Lord Jesus in sincerity, although, in my judgment, many of 
them may be in error. Even the unbelivers, and even my 
own personal enemies, should I have any, must be the ob- 
jects of my love. My Master has taught me to love my 
enemies, and to pray for them who despitefully use me and 
persecute me, and he has enforced this teaching by his own 
example when upon the cross he prayed for his murderers. 

1 am not afraid of loving my fellows with a love too great. 
I do not feel.thereis danger of enlarging my heart too much. 



216 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 

Of all sins for which men will stand condemned in the last 
day — and the catalogue of these sins is a long one — I am 
sure there will not be found one to rest under the crushing 
weight of the divine sentence because he loved his fellow-man 
too much. God has manifested his love toward the vilest. 
He so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son 
that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but might 
have eternal life. That is the pattern for us ; for if God so 
loved us we ought to love one another. When measured by 
the divine standard who is there who can honestly say he 
comes up to the full measure of its requirements ? We need 
more love everywhere — in society, in our homes, in our 
churches — everywhere. Down with hate. Down with 
party spirit. Down with religious bigotry. Religion has 
been blighted by it ; the world has been cursed by it. Let 
sweet, bright love shine out and heal the bitterness of our 
race. Let us commend the religion of Christ, by showing 
to the world the spirit of Christ. Let us grow in love, for 
the fruit of the Spirit is love. 

When we turn and look again upon that picture of character 
sketched in the text, what next do we find? Surprising! 
The next is joy. It is surprising because it is supposed 
that one mark of sainthood is sadness. Did }^ou ever 
notice that all the pictures of saints are sad-faced pictures ? 
And, in your childhood, do -you not remember that those 
whom you were taught to regard as saintly were sad ? And 
their hymns were lamentations. "This world's a howling 
wilderness," was popular with these sad souls, and they con- 
tributed toward making this world a howling wilderness by 
their bowlings in it. I remember one of this type. He was 
an elder in one of our churches. He would speak in the 
Wednesday evening prayer-meeting whenever opportunity 
offered and it seemed to me these opportunities were frequent. 



THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 217 

His exhortations were not reviving. They were fearfully 
depressing. He poured forth words of lamentation. The 
people seemed too bright. Frequently did he remind us that 
the Scriptures say of our Savior that he wept, but that they 
nowhere say that he ever smiled. Leaving us to infer that 
the proper thing for us to do was to weep, and that the 
wrong thing would be to smile ! 

Now, while it is said with touching brevity and pathos 
that when our Savior stood by the grave of his friend Lazarus, 
with the two sisters sorrowing by his side that ' ' Jesus wept ; ' ' 
and again when he paused upon the western sloop of the hill 
that overlooks Jerusalem, and saw with prophetic vision the 
Roman army gathering around it, its walls battered down, 
its temple destroyed and its people scattered, that he lifted 
up his voice and wept, and while these manifestations of his 
sympathy are precious to me beyond all price, yet I know 
there was something bright about my Master. Had I no 
other indication of this the simple fact that the children were 
fond of him would be enough. They are not fond of the 
sadly sanctified. They dread them with an inborn shrinking. 
For this reason they have a proverbial fear of preachers. 
Their sanctimonious mein affrights them. Yet they were 
fond of my Savior. There was a brightness in his face 
because there was joy in his heart. Although he is called a 
man of sorrows and was acquainted with grief, yet it was 
for the joy that was set before him that he endured the pain 
of the cross. 

The joy of the Christian is not the evanescent joy of the 
world. The flash and the sparkle of earthly joy is for onh r 
a moment. The dazzling glare of fire-works may for a mo- 
ment seem to put the modest stars to the blush. They 
seem pale for awhile in its light. But its light goes out and 
the stars shine on. All earth-born joys soon perish, but the 



218 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 

heaven-born abide. If any, in the all this world, have reason 
to abound in joy it is the Christian. Reconciled, forgiven, 
adopted, environed with precious promises and helped by 
divine grace, well may he rejoice. His Father reigns and 
makes all things work together for his good. 

We need more joy. Let our songs be peans. Let our 
light shine. And there is no light which can shine so far as 
the light of joy. In the night of sorrow, in prison and 
chains, when the wintry winds of adversity sweep about us 
and we are tossed by the tempest, let notes of joy be 
heard above the voice of the storm. Rejoice in the Lord 
always ; and again I say, rejoice. 

And next among the features well-marked in the face of 
Paul's saint is peace. Not simply that the Christian seeks 
peace and pursues it, but a blessed peace reigns within, so 
deep, so sweet that it has transfigured that face. The Christian 
dwells in the chamber of peace. He avoids contention. He 
shall not strive, neither shall his voice be heard in the street. 
Though storms may disturb the quiet of the surface there is 
an undisturbed peace in his soul. I have seen the ocean in 
a storm. White-crested waves ran high. Great ships were 
tossed as a feather. The brave hearts of sailors grew faint. 
And yet, beneath the tempest-lashed surface were depths 
untouched, unmoved by the raging storm. So is it with the 
Christian. His heart rests in God and he is at peace. His 
troubles pass as a shadow that falls from a passing cloud. 
Worry is unworthy his profession. He knows in whom he 
has believed, and is persuaded that he is able to keep that 
which he has committed to him. Need I say we all need 
more of the spirit of peace? 

But I cannot linger. Take long-suffering and gentleness 
and goodness and faith and meekness and temperance — take 
each one by itself, and see if you are not wanting in each. 



THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 219 

Then strive to grow in each until, fully developed, they shall 
be harmoniously combined and be manifest as the well-marked 
features of your character. Let your character be the rich 
and ripe and mellow fruit of the Spirit of God. 

The next thought I present is this : The means or instru- 
mentalities by which fruit is produced are not to be esteemed 
on their own account, but are to be valued as fruit producers. 
All fruit is produced by means. Even that which seems to 
spring spontaneous from the earth is no exception. The 
growing twig, the tree, the branches, the blossoms, in short, 
all that goes before the fruit are the means by which 
the fruit itself is produced. They are not to be esteemed 
on their own account. Their value lies in the fact 
that they produce fruit. What would you think of the 
wisdom of one who would plant an orchard or a vineyard 
and carefully tend it year after year with no fruit to reward 
him for all this ? His orchard is for the fruit ; his vineyard 
is for the vintage. If they produce nothing, they are worth 
nothing. 

So the fruit of the Spirit is produced by the use of means, 
and their value is to be found in the fruit they produce. They 
are usually called means of grace. • They have been ordained 
to help us. Yet, the mistake is made of regarding them as of 
intrinsic value. This was the mistake of the Pharisees. 
They were careful in observing all requirements. They 
were slaves to them. They did not look beyond these means 
to the end they were designed to accomplish. When they 
charged our Savior with violating he Sabbath, his answer con- 
tains a principle broader in its application than to the specific 
question named, — "The Sabbath was made for man and 
not man for the Sabbath." The Sabbath is the servant of 
man and not man the servant of the Sabbath. It was or- 
dained, and it exists for hi3 good. So of all ordinances, of 



220 THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 

all commandments, of all institutions. They exist for man's 
higher good. In the purposes of the divine Father thoughts 
of his children have shaped all revelations he has given. 
Apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and the 
church itself have been given for the perfecting of the 
saints. It is a sad mistake when we reverse the divine plan. 
Were we to judge from the history of the church we might 
conclude that these things were given that they might furnish 
subject for controversy. Instead of using them as helps we 
dispute and contend about them until they sometimes seem 
almost hindrances. 

Suppose I had been born a genius, and my talent lay in 
the direction of the fine arts. Suppose, also, I inherit a vast 
fortune. I avail myself of every opportunity to improve 
my talent. After spending much time in the galleries of 
the old world I return with a rare and beautiful collection of 
art. In order to develop the taste of the people, I rent a 
large hall on the second floor, place my collection there, and 
give notice that the exhibition is perfectly free. A few days 
after this I visit the place to see how well my entertainment 
is patronized. I find the stairway leading up to the hall 
densely crowded. But the crowd does not seem to be moving 
up, and its standing there hinders others who would. When 
I come nearer I find they are engaged in controversy, bitter 
controvers} 7 , concerning the stairway, Each expresses his 
opinion, which is met by an antagonistic view. What folly, 
what shame, what manifest lack of appreciation* of the rare 
treat provided. Contending about the stairway ! For what 
was it made but to be used so that the people might go up 
higher and higher, until they reached the place prepared for 
them ? Yet, shamefully great as is this folly, it does not 
equal that of those who, instead of using the means of grace 
provided to lift us to a higher plane, turn them into subject 



THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. 221 

of bitter controversy, Take these appointed means and use 
them. Go higher. By them climb nearer God. Make 
them your servants. They were designed for that. They 
are only helps — wisely chosen, divinely appointed — yet 
they are only helps. Use them as such, and so become 
richer in experience and larger in all the elements of a 
Christly character. Let them be but the instrumentalities 
by which the fruit of the Spirit is produced in you. 

I pray that this fruit may abound ; that branches may be 
wide-spread and heavy-laden. I have seen some trees so 
large and beautiful that their branches reached over the 
outer wall and bended under the weight of the mellow fruit. 
The dusty wayside traveller could pluck of the fruit and eat, 
resting in the shade, and then go on his way refreshed. So 
may this church be. May it be a source of comfort and help 
even to the stranger who pauses for a moment in its midst 
and then pursues his journey. I have seen men and women 
so rich in grace and in all goodness that their presence was 
like a benediction, the memory of them like the memory of 
a sweet song. As the shadow of Peter had healing in it, so 
there goes forth from these an influence as gentle as that 
falling shadow and as full of healing. May we become so 
full of grace that we shall be full of healing. 



CHRIST'S LESSONS FROM THE VINEYARD. 

I am the true viae, and my Father is the husbandman. Every 
branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away ; and every 
branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth 
more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word I have spoken unto 
you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit 
of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye 
abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth 
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for with- 
out me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast 
forth as a branch and is withered; and men gather them, and cast 
them into the fire and they are burned. John xv : 1-6. 

The emblem of the Jewish theocracy was the vine. David 
sang of the chosen nation, " Thou hast brought a vine out 
of Egypt; thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it." 
And Jeremiah, speaking in the name of the Lord, said, u I 
had planted a noble vine, wholly a right seed ; how art thou 
turned to the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me." 
Josephus tells us that when Herod enlarged and adorned the 
temple in Jerusalem, he placed a golden vine, hung thick 
with clusters of grapes over the entrance gate. Some sup- 
pose that Christ beholding this in the moonlight said, " I am 
the true vine." 

As the words of the text were spoken immediately after he 
had partaken of the last supper with his disciples, others have 
supposed that the juice of the fruit of the vine suggested 
this beautiful imagery to the mind of Christ. The disciples 
had united in partaking of it, thus confessing their need of 
his blood and their mutual dependence upon him. As the 
vital current which flows through the vine gives life to its 
branches and makes them fruitful, so Christ taught, "I am 
(222) 



Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 223 

the vine, ye are the branches ; he that abideth in me, and I 
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for without me 
ye can do nothing." 

Still a third supposition is this: That the symbol 
was suggested by what they saw as they went from 
the room where the Lord's Supper was instituted, across 
the Kedron, to the garden of his agony. The hillsides 
were covered with vineyards. The branches which had 
been cut off were dry, and men were gathering and burning 
them. These fires attracted his attention. Christ seizes 
upon this scene to teach them the solemn lesson of the vine- 
yard. " If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a 
branch and is withered. They are gathered, cast into the 
fire and are burned.' ' 

This last supposition, upon the whole, appears to me to 
be the most reasonable. 

The principal features of this figure are simple and easily 
understood. They are these: the vine, the branches, and 
the husbandman. Christ has so clearly interpreted them 
that there can be no doubt as to their meaning. 

I am the vine, in that, as all the nourishment of each 
branch and tendril passes through the main stalk, so I am 
the source of all real strength and grace to my disciples. I 
am their leader and teacher, and I impart to them all they 
need for life and holiness and fruitfulness. I am the true 
vine, in the sense of real and genuine. I really and truly 
give what is emblematically represented by the vine. The 
earthly is a type of the heavenly. That which the earthty 
vine is figuratively as a symbol, that which the people of 
Israel was as a type, Christ is in radical essentiality. He is 
the trunk-root of spiritual life and fruit. 

When he says, ' ' Ye are the branches, ' ' he refers to the indi- 
vidual Christians. He does not here speak of " branches of 



224, Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 

the church," for the very good and sufficient reason that he 
did not intend his church to be divided as it is in our day. 
In no place in the word of God do we find such an expres- 
sion as " the branches of the church." The language is not 
in the Scriptures, because in the apostolic day the church 
was united. How sadly in this do we differ from the divine 
ideal of the church. Believers are the branches, and they 
are so called, because of their close .connection with Christ 
and their dependence upon him. 

My Father is the husbandman. That is, he is the propri- 
etor. The entire vineyard with all its fruitage belongs to 
him. He has tl e care of the vine with all its branches. By 
planting, by watering, by pruning, he gives the increase. 

How strikingly the text, therefore, places before us, Christ, 
his people and God; under the figure of the vine, its 
branches, and the husbandman! But not simply for the 
beauty of the figure did he employ it. His purpose was 
practical. There are lessons enwrapped in this of vital im- 
portance, and it is my purpose to point out, briefly and 
simply, some of these for our profit. 

1. We are taught, in the first place, the nature of the 
Christian life. It springs from union with Christ. It is not 
moral development and refinement independent of Christ. 
Man may be morally good, to a degree, but I care not how 
good he may think himself, or how good he may really be, 
if he be not engrafted into Christ, he is not a Christian. 
Not only to build character, but to build it according to a 
given model, and by the inspiration of certain moral forces, 
is the purpose of Christ. He unites each branch to himself, 
not in appearance only, but by the inward current of hidden 
life. 

Paul expresses this truth without a figure in speaking of his 
own life. "lam crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; 



Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 225 

yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now 
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." 

The Christian life is a hidden life. The difference between 
a Christian and an upright, honest man of the world is not 
so much an outward difference as an inward. You see them, 
simply as business men see each other, and you notice no 
difference. It is not until you go down to the fountain of life, 
not until you penetrate the heart and learn the hidden springs 
of action, that you find the essential difference between 
them. The one is honest from policy, from worldly motives ; 
the other is honest from higher motives. The inspiration to 
his life is faith in Jesus Christ. He has been engrafted into 
the living vine and that union is his life. 

This union is not simply a formal one, such as many seem to 
suppose. For they appear to regard this engrafting of a 
man into Christ as a process quite as formal and materialis- 
tic as engrafting a literal branch into a literal vine. Certain 
specified things are to be accepted as true, and certain 
appointments are to be observed and the work is done. 
Instead of this, however, the union is formed through a liv- 
ing faith. You may subscribe to every truth in the Bible 
and obey every ordinance, but if you have not vital faith in 
Jesus Christ you are not by all these made a living, fruit- 
bearing Christian. Nor is this union simply a covenant 
relation. It is this in part ; but this is not the whole of it. 
The entire body of the Jewish people stood in covenant rela- 
tionship with God, but we know that many among these were 
not really and vitally joined unto God. If the force and mean- 
ing of marriage is understood to be simply a civil compact 
or covenant it is unworthy the holy name of marriage. 
Between the true husband and wife, love and mutual confi- 
dence make them one, in a sense in which no civil covenant 
can. Men united by a business contract, a written agree- 

15 



226 Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 

ment, which forms them into a partnership, and they are 
one in the eyes of the law, so far as their business is con- 
cerned, but they are not, as to their lives, vitally joined. A 
covenant cannot of itself join two persons in vital union. 
Only mutual personal attachment can do that. 

Then, too, let us remember that this engrafting into Christ 
is a purely spiritual matter. Faith is that which so joins the 
believer to Christ that the life-current flows from Christ into 
him, and life flows from the vine into- each of the branches. 
There may be mystery in this, but mystery is not necessarily 
mysticism. All life is mysterious. Yet every true Christian 
knows that faith in the Lord Jesus lies at the basis of all his 
spiritual life and enjoyment. He knows that it forms the 
bond of union between him and the fountain of his Christian 
life. This is that which distinguishes Christian life from 
the simply moral life. 

2. We are reminded, in the next place, that all the fruit 
produced by the immense expenditure of heaven is to be 
found in individual Christian lives. The fruit grows on the 
branches and not on the main stem. So the fruit is to be 
seen in the believer and not in Christ. If the world is to be 
fed and made glad it must be by Christ's working through 
Christians. We are the avenues through which blessings 
flow to the world. 

It is a fact, which every careful reader of the New Testa- 
ment Scriptures must recognize, that Christ deals with the 
world through his people. The gospel is to be made known, 
with the fulness of its blessing, through them. The light 
must be reflected from them. By them he feeds the hungry, 
clothes the destitute, furnishes shelter for the homeless, 
cares for the widow and orphan, nurses the sick, comforts 
the sorrowing, and bestows multiform benefactions. The 
life current from him must bear fruit. It generates within 



Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 227 

each believer that which manifests itself normally in 
fruitage. 

If we reflect upon the immense expenditures of heaven we 
can begin to understand the obligation resting upon us to be 
fruitful. The liberal gifts bestowed from the beginning of 
time, when placed together, form the weight of that obliga- 
tion. We are not our own ; we have been bought with a 
price ; we should therefore glorify God in our body and spirit 
which are his. You remember that once, as he went into 
the city, he saw a fig tree full of life and with the appearance 
of fruit, and that when he drew near seeking fruit he found 
nothing but leaves. The tree withered under his sentence of 
condemnation. Appearance will not do. There must be 
fruit. 

3. The fruit must partake of the nature of the vine. This 
is the third lesson. Christ himself has said, "Ye shall 
know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, 
or figs of thistles?" When James and John would have 
called down fire upon the Samaritan village his rebuke was, 
"Ye know not what, manner of spirit ye are of. For the 
Son of man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save 
them. " It is implied in this that that they should have had 
the spirit of Christ, and should, out of it, do Christly works. 

If, therefore, we desire to know with what m>rks we should 
adorn our profession, we have but to look to the life our 
Savior lived. His was a life of sympathetic helpfulness. 
He found want and ignorance and sorrow about him and he 
ministered to it all. He did good. His miracles are mani- 
festations of goodness quite as much as they are of power. 
He gave sight to blind eyes, and health to diseased bodies, 
and food to hungry men and women. His godlike works 
were witnesses to his claims of a divine mission. When the 
two disciples of John came from their master to Jesus ask- 



228 Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 

ing whether he was the one who was to come, or they should 
look for another, you remember he referred to his works for 
answer. So must we sustain our claim to be his disciples. 
If our religion does not lead us to fruitf nlness in Christly 
works it is not genuine. Profession by itself is worse than 
nothing. It is Irypocrisy. Psalm-singing is not sufficient 
evidence that you are a Christian. Attendance at church is 
not enough. Fruit, Christly fruit, is the evidence of our 
union with Christ. 

4. We are taught also an important lesson here concern- 
ing the ministry of suffering. ' ' Every branch that beareth 
fruit he purgeth it that may bear more fruit. ' ' The purgings 
or prunings here mentioned are to be referred to the provi- 
dences of the Father. Without these prunings the branches 
will not be fruitful. 

A man owned a vineyard which produced no fruit. At last 
he employed one, skilled in the culture of the grape, to care 
for this vine} T ard. A few days afterward he called to see 
what this vine-dresser was doing, and was grieved to see his 
vineyard ruined, as he supposed ; for it had been so thor- 
oughly pruned it seemed to be destroyed. But when the 
time for grapes came they appeared in great abundance. He 
learned the value of pruning. 

The problem of human suffering is one of the oldest prob- 
lems in human thinking. It is natural to suppose it means 
divine displeasure. When Job was afflicted his friends in- 
sisted that his afflictions were sent upon him as a punishment 
for his sins. Some came to Christ one day, telling him of 
those Gallileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their 
sacrifices. They regarded this as a signal judgment for sins. 
So the heathen thought when the viper came out of the fire 
and fastened itself to Paul's hand. And we are often dis- 
posed to think of our afflictions in the same way. But 



Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 229 

Christ explains that it is not a mark of divine displeasure, it 
is not as punishment for sin, but it is that we may be more 
fruitful as Christians. 

5. Another lesson is concerning the fate of those who bear 
no fruit. ' ' Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he 
taketh away." And again,, "If a man abide not in me he 
is cast forth as a branch and is withered ; and men gather 
them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." 
Here there seem to be well marked stages of judgment ;• the 
accomplishment of which begins in time and is fulfilled in 
eternity. They are cast forth even while some appearance 
of life continues ; they wither, losing even the appearances 
of life; they are gathered at last for judgment; they are 
cast into the fire, the place where withered branches were 
being cast, as Christ was looking upon the scene which sug- 
gested this figure ; and, as fulfilling the sentence of judg- 
ment; they are burned. Their fate turned on their 
fruitlessness. Fearful fate! Too fearful to contemplate, 
and yet we need the very warning it contains. No fruit. 
There may have been an abundance of leaves, there may have 
been the appearance of vigorous life, yet there was no fruit. 
Let us learn that the husbandman looks for fruit and will 
accept of nothing in its stead. 

6. The last point I shall notice is that God is glorified 
through fruit-bearing Christians. "Herein is my Father 
glorified that ye bear much fruit." This honors God before 
the world, because it is a practical manifestation of the ex- 
cellency of the law which requires it. We are his epistles 
before men. They read us, and judge of the character of 
the law by which we profess to govern our lives. When, 
therefore, they see all manner of goodness and helpfulness 
and charity in us, they attribute these to the Giver of the 
law which requires them. Such fruitful lives show the power 



230 Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 

of the gospel and the transforming 'virtue of that grace 
which can overcome the evil propensities of the heart and 
bring forth manifold good. The best evidence as to the 
divine origin of the Scriptures, after all, is found in the di- 
vine works with which they induce men to adorn their lives. 
By their fruit they testify they are inspired of God. And 
again, such fruitful lives glorify God because the Christian 
is professedly restored to the divine image, and such a life 
of practical goodness shows to the world how excellent must 
be the character after which it was formed. 

How wonderful that it is within our power to glorify the 
infinitely glorious ! And by those things in which we glorify 
him we bring fadeless glory upon ourselves. We shall be 
remembered, when we are gone, by what we have done. 
When we rest from our labors our works will follow us. And, 
in the general resurrection, those that have done good shall 
come forth to the resurrection of life ; and, according to 
Christ's description of the final judgments, deeds of benevo- 
lence will be recited as the welcome is extended to those on 
the right hand of the throne, while the neglect of these will 
be mentioned as the sentence of banishment is pronounced 
against those on the left. 

I conclude by offering two suggestions designed to make 
us more fruitful : — 

First. That we seek to make all suffering tend to this. 
The chastisements of the Lord, are not joyous, but griev- 
ous at the time, nevertheless, they afterwards yield the 
peaceable fruits of righteousness in them that are exercised 
thereby. Sanctified sorrows are spiritual promotions. They 
are prunings intended to make us more fruitful. May that 
be their result in our lives. 

Secondly. Let us strive to make the bond between us and 
Christ more intimate. Let our faith lay hold upon him with 



Christ's lessons from the vineyard. 231 

firmer grasp. Let the fellowship be closer. He is our life- 
fountain. The fuller the life current from him the richer 
will be our lives. Let us not aim simply to appear fruitful, 
but let us strive really to be so. Children may tie fruit to 
the branches of their Christmas tree until it appears loaded 
with fruit. But the tree is still lifeless and fruitless. So 
we may seek to make our lives appear fruitful by a similar 
method. Only with vigorous life within can we become 
really so. The barrenness of many lives is to be attributed 
to the weakness of the life bond and the feeble flow of the 
life current. 



HINDERANCES. 

Ye did run well ; who did hinder you (or did drive you back) that 
ye should not obey the truth?— Gal. v:7. 

A good start is a good thing, but it is not everything. A 
good beginning does not insure final success. There may be 
a fine bloom in the spring, and but little fruit in the autumn. 
A clear morning may be followed by a cloudy day. A bright 
child often makes a dull man ; and the first-honor man at 
college, is frequently a failure in the world. The steed may 
make a good dash from the stand and then come in behind 
on the homestretch. A new convert may be enthusiastic, 
and run well for awhile, and then become indifferent through 
meeting with many hindrances. " Ye did run well ; who did 
hinder you ? ' ' 

It is a sad fact that with many their greatest Christian ac- 
tivity is immediately after their conversion. They are larger 
and stronger at the time of their birth than they are at any 
time after. They have more faith, more joy, more love, 
more hope, more zeal, more enterprise, yea, more everything 
that is Christian then than afterwards. They can run 
swifter, fight more courageously, toil more faithfully, endure 
more patiently, and sing more joyously. This is wrong ; it 
is unnatural. 

Why is it? 

I am not to deal with the causes which existed in Paul's 

day. I do not undertake to point out the hindrances which 

impeded the progress of the Christians in Galatia. I desire 

to deal with the present. Nor do I come to you with cen- 

( 232 ) 



HINDER ANCES. 233 

sure, but I desire to come to you with help. What are a few 
of the hindrances with us, and how ma} T they be removed? 

1. A failure to receive expected encouragement has hin- 
dered many. 

It is a remarkable fact, that as a rule, we receive most en- 
couragement when we least of all feel the need of it. Suc- 
cess always brings words of cheer. Prosperity calls out 
professions of friendship. The moneyless man receives few 
favors, the hungry man few invitations to dine. 

As you entered the Christian race you were congratulated 
and encouraged. We were glad. But you did not so much 
feel the need of encouragement just then as you did later. 
Your love was all aglow, and your enthusiasm was full. 
These encouraging words, with which you were welcomed, 
ceased at the time your zeal began to abate, and you began 
to grow weary in well doing. The very fact that they ceased 
was an added discouragement. 

Of this I desire to say three things : — 

First, the church is at fault. It is not enough that we en- 
list men as soldiers of Christ; we should train them for 
duty, and encourage them in the conflict. They often need 
words of cheer which they never receive. We should stand 
by them and help them. As I look upon it, the church was 
organized partly for this very purpose. When all the trees 
in a forest are removed, save one left standing alone, the 
tempest may easily overthrow that. But while others stood 
near about it the storm could not uproot it. Its comrades 
broke the force of the attack and added of their strength. 
So it should be in the church. 

Then, too, the convert is often at fault in expecting too 
much from others. They should not expect perpetual 
congratulations. We congratulate the newly married, 
but are they to expect these congratulations from us 



234 HINDER ANCES. 

so long as they live? We take a little child by the hand 
to help it as it is learning to walk, but the child 
would be unreasonable should it expect us to help it 
always. Yet there are just such babies in the church. 
They have been members for many years, and are yet ex- 
pecting others to help them as they were helped at first. Let 
me say to you, it is time you were men and women. It is 
time for you to put away childish things. You are wrong in 
expecting so much help. 

And still further, you are at fault in not extending help to 
others. As a rule, those who expect the most, extend the 
least. A pastor once went to a church. He had been there 
only a short time when a lady came to his study and asked 
for a church letter. He asked if she expected to leave the 
city. She answered she did not. He then inquired if she 
expected to unite with one of their churches nearer her resi- 
dence. Again she said she did not, and added, "I have 
been a member of this church more than five years and it is 
the most unsociable church I ever knew. The members 
don't visit. " "Have none of them called to see you?" 
he asked. " Yes " she replied, " but that's been a longtime 
ago. " "You returned their calls, did you? " " Well, I'm 
so busy I have no time for visiting, " she answered, by way 
of apology. k ' But, you think new converts should receive 
special attention, don't you?" he asked, "And I suppose 
some have come into the church since you. Have you looked 
after them and visited them ? " "No — well — no I haven' t ; 
but that's not my business, or I'd never thought of it just 
that way, any how. I see what you mean. I'll try to profit 
by the suggestion. Perhaps, after all, the fault of which I 
complain, rests largely with me. " I present this case as a 
specimen. There are many expecting too much, and giving 
too little. 



I 



HINDER ANCES. 235 

We all need encouragement, more of it than we get. Cen- 
sure has its place, but we will be sure to indulge enough in 
censure. Some try to beat the bad out, others drive it 
out by encouraging the good. We all know we can do better 
with appreciation and encouragement. Every child will be 
a better child, every wife a better, happier wife, and the 
husband a kinder, truer husband, every preacher will be a 
better preacher, and, in brief, everybody will be better 
when helped on with words of encouragement. 

2. Others fail because they live from impulse, rather than 
from settled conviction. 

The rains fall, the brook is full and its waters turn the 
mill. The winds blow, the sails are spread and the schooner 
scuds. Impulse prompts, and men act. By impulse they 
run well for awhile. But impulse subsides and they stop. 
It is wise to utilize good impulses. Let them speak; let 
them act. But there must be something to abide when 
impulse fails. We must not live simply from feeling. He 
who has nothing but this must be unstable, and must sooner 
or later fail. Our trials are too real, too frequent, too 
protracted. We need deep convictions and pluck. 

The life to which we have been called is a warfare. The 

Christian is called upon to endure hardness as a good soldier 

of Jesus Christ. I suppose many have enlisted from the 

impulse of the moment — the martial music, the stirring, 

patriotic appeal, the excitement of the moment have moved 

them. They have not really thought of warfare with all that 

it implies. They have thought of the camp and the drill. 

The time of trial an I of danger comes. They desert. 

"But for these vile guns 
He would himself have been a soldier." 

We need conviction — deep, strong, abiding conviction. 
When many turned back from following Jesus he said unto 



236 HINDERANCES. 

the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" Then Peter an- 
swered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the 
words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God, " We believe and 
are sure. That it was which made them steadfast in the 
midst of general apostasy. They were anchored hy a deep, 
strong conviction. Let the multitude go. Let the current 
sweep like a mighty flood, we remain secure by the strength 
of well-grounded faith. It was this which kept Paul un- 
moved in the midst of violent persecution. Speaking of 
these persecutions as brought upon him by the work of his 
ministry he says, "For the which cause I also suffer these 
things ; nevertheless I am not ashamed ; for I know whom I 
have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep 
that which I have committed unto him against that day." 
He had something stronger and more enduring than impulse 
to carry him through. So must we have. 
- I believe that one cause of weakness in all our churches is 
to be traced legitimately to the fact that religion is made 
principally a matter of emotion. It is wanting in intelligent 
conviction. It is deficient in instruction. I do not object 
to impulse. Emotion has its place. Deep feeling is needed 
for grand achievements. But these must rest upon truth 
clearly understood and firmly grasped. Teaching must lie 
at the foundation of strong Christian character. We stand 
exposed to dangerous assaults from infidelity simply because 
we are not well-rooted and grounded in the truth. The 
foundation is not secure because it does not rest upon the 
rock of eternal verities. Truth clearly apprehended is its 
own defence. 

There is a practical lesson in this for our pulpits as well as 
our for pews. If we would make men and women strong, if we 
would establish them so that no raging storm and no dashing 



HINDERANCES. 237 

billow caii move them, we must make them strong in convic- 
tion. Let the roots of their lives strike deep into the soil of 
truth, and be widespread. Light, lights light, is what is 
needed. When they can say " we believe and are sure," 
they must stand. When they caii say, ' ' I know whom I 
have believed " no floods can sweep them away. 

3. Others fail through the discouragements of sin. I am 
persuaded that very many are hindered by the consciousness 
of their shortcomings. Before their conversion they criti- 
cised others and said, " If I professed to be a Christian I 
would not be such a sorry Christian as they. They do 
things I would not do. " They enter upon the Christian life 
strong in the confidence of their own strength. They run 
well for awhile. By and by, they stumble. They try 
again. They fall. This is repeated again and again. 
Their confidence is vanishing. Their enthusiasm has gone. 
Their courage fails. 

Ah, Satan has entrapped* you, my brothers. When you 
now think of trying again he reminds you of your repeated 
failures. Memory of sin, like a vampire, sucks away your 
life-blood. Your are discouraged. Your confidence has 
given away to a feeling of unworthiness. 

You have not been attending church regularly of late. 
Why? Oh, how many excuses you find! You work so hard 
during the week that you need Sunday f o** rest, you say. Or 
some members of yonr family have not been very well and 
you thought you would remain at home with them. Or, 
you live so far from church. Or, you say, you have not 
suitable raiment. Or, worst of all — hypocritical and un- 
worthy excuse — you say there are some in the church not 
living as they ought ! How easily you find excuses ! Yet, 
in most cases the real reason is to be found in jowy own sins. 
Your failure to attend church is to be attributed to a guilty 



238 HINDERANCES. 

conscience. Your neglect of the Lord's Supper is to be 
traced to the same cause. Your fault-finding springs from 
faults within you. You seek to justify yourself, in a meas- 
ure, by pointing to the failures of others. 

You have drifted away from God, and what should be 
done ? Awake to your true condition. Rest not until the 
account of sin is settled. Turn back. Give your heart 
anew to him. Pray earnestly to God to heal your backslid- 
ings. There is forgiveness for you. God will pardon and 
forget. Start afresh, relying not so much upon your own 
strength as upon divine grace to help you. 

We have an advocate with the Father, Christ the righteous ; 
and he is faithful and just to forgive. This is one of the 
most precious of all the promises of the gospel. Do not 
think too much or too morbidly upon the past. You may 
be crushed and kept back by such memories. Be taught 
humility by your failures, and strengthen the cords that 
binds you to Christ by your new forgiveness. We should 
remember our failures only to make us more faithful. Peter 
was a better apostle, I think, from his having denied his 
Lord, and afterward being restored to his favor. From that 
time he had not so much confidence in himself. 

You have been hindered, you have made mistakes, 3'ou 
may have fallen away. But I beg you, do not be over- 
whelmed by a sense of your failures. Do not give over, 
and cease to make an effort. By the interests of your 
deathless spirit, by the wooing of infinite love, by the fear- 
ful fate of the confirmed apostate, by the glories cf heaven, 
by the blood of the Cross, I beg you to repent and turn and do 
your first works. Oh, of all sad things this seems the 
saddest, — to have started for home and then be shipwrecked 
mid-ocean — to have entered the race and then have fallen 
by the way. Remember the virgins that slept, the unfaith- 



HINDER ANCES. ZCi) 

ful servant that during the absence of his lord began to eat 
to drink and with the drunken. Remember these and be 
warned. ' ' Ye did run well : what did hinder ? " It matters 
not what may have hindered. Let the past be forgotten, 
when you renew your vows. God's grace will be sufficient. 
This moment may decide your eternal destiny. Awake and 
turn. 



T 






OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 

Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heav- 
enly vision. — Acts xxvi : 19. 

Paul's defence before King Agrippa rests upon the story 
of his wonderful conversion. He could explain his conduct 
in no other way, and -he seemed to feel that this furnished 
not only an adequate explanation, but a complete justifica- 
tion of it. This narrative was his argument. And, on an- 
other occasion, when a mob in Jerusalem was wildly thirsting 
for his blood, he recounts this same story as his defence and 
justification. He tells of his zeal in persecuting the disci- 
ples of Jesus, of his commission to go to Damascus, of the 
wonderful vision by the way, and his subsequent conduct. 

His grand life-work began in this vision. The text I have 
read contains the gist of his defence — ' ' I was not disobedient 
to the heavenly vision." It is as if he had said, " No one 
can understand my recent conduct, which seems so incon- 
sistent with my early life and education, so opposed to the 
customs of my own people, so full of zeal in the defence of 
that which I once so zealously opposed, unless they under- 
stand the vision out of which the great change came, and in 
obedience to which my whole life is being shaped. This 
vision furnishes the key to my conduct, and fully justifies 
the course I am pursuing." 

We cannot fully understand the meaning of this vision, 
however, if we suppose it consisted only of ocular manifesta- 
tions. To the vigorous mind of Paul, as he meditated upon 
it, there was more in it, and that of more practical worth, 
(240) 



OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 241 

than was all that he saw with his ej^es. These lessons 
taught him we must gather up and place together as 
containing its important and influential features. What 
were some of them ? 

1. First of all, he was made to feel the nearness of the 
spirit world, and the reality of the Divine presence as he 
had never felt them before. TheoreticahV, he held and ad- 
vocated these before. He was a Pharisee, and the points of 
difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees involved 
these very questions. The Sadducees denied the existence 
of angels and spirits, while the Pharisees believed in both. 
As a Pharisee, therefore, he believed in the doctrine of 
spirit-existence. 

But one may hold to a theory, especially to the theory of 
the sect with which he is identified, and may zealously defend 
it without ever fully grasping it as a personal faith, and 
feeling that the doctrine stands for reality. So it is with us. 
We inherit a faith — we subscribe to a doctrine, without the 
faith's being our personal faith or the doctrine's being to us the 
representation of reality. But when the Lord appeared sud- 
denly to Paul, as he was journeying a^ng the highway, and 
there fell about him the light of heavenly glory, he knew what 
before he had held only as a doctrine. He was made to feel 
with a deep certainty what ho had heretofore only dimty 
apprehended through teaching. Ever after he recognized 
the divine presence and the nearness of the spirit world as 
well-known certainties. 

2. Then, again, he was made to feel his direct and per 
sonal responsibility to divine authority, as never before. 
True, as a Pharisee, he placed peculiar stress on the author- 
ity of the Jewish Scriptures, and made great professions of 
being governed by them, But it was probably with him as 
with many of us, we look to the Book simply as a book, and 



242 OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 

are often practically forgetful of the personality of its 
author, and of our direct, personal responsibility to him. 
When Paul left Jerusalem the letters he bore from the chief 
priests were quite sufficient as authority, but when this 
vision was granted him, and he spoke face to face with the 
Lord, these letters were forgotten. The question then was, 
' ' Lord what wilt tJwu have me to do ? ' ' The authority of 
the Jewish sanhedrim was nothing; it wholly disappeared 
as there was developed within him a sense of his direct, per- 
sonal responsibility to God. No councils, no ecclesiastical 
enactments, no authority, no decrees of men could after 
that come between him and his divine Lord. Not simply at 
the time of his conversion, but ever after, the question with 
him was, ' ' Lord what wilt thou have me to do ? " To him the 
Lord was no longer afar off, or vaguely apprehended, nor 
was his authority forgotten. 

3. In this vision he learned also of the possibilities of 
humanity. When the light fell about him, and the heavenly 
glory was manifest, the voice that spoke to him out of the 
midst of that glory was the voice of one wearing a human 
name. ' ' I am Jesu$ ' ' — the name given at his incarnation, 
the name which marked him as a man. He had known of 
of Jesus — had known him after the flesh. When, there- 
fore, the answer came back in response to his inquiry, "I 
am Jesus ," he saw humanity glorified. 

This thought finds frequent expression in his subsequent 
writings. It is Paul who speaks of the raised and glorified 
Jesus as the "first fruits," the type, the promise and the 
pledge of all the after harvest. It was in remembrance of 
this vision that he so confidently claims that Christ ' ' shall 
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his 
glorious body." And the promised supremacy of man, as 
given in the eight psalm, he feels sure will yet meet with com- 



OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 243 

plete fulfilment; for he says, " Though now we see not, yet 
all things put under him, yet we see Jesus, who was made a 
little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor." 
Jesus exalted and crowned meant the exaltation and crown- 
ing of humanity. 

4. Last among all things which I shall mention, as having 
been made manifest to him in this vision, is divine fellow- 
ship with human sufferings. "I am Jesus wJiom thou perse- 
cutest. ' ' He had given his aid and countenance to the ston- 
ing of Stephen, he had persecuted many in Jerusalem and 
elsewhere, but not until now did he find that in all this he 
was persecuting Jesus. As a blow upon any member of the 
body sends pain quivering along the nerves to other parts, 
so every blow against the least of all the members of Christ's 
body is felt by him. Christ has said, "Inasmuch as ye 
have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye 
have done it unto me. The union is so intimate that I must 
feel what every member bears." This union and fellowship 
was deeply impressed upon Paul's mind, as is clearly shown 
in his writings. " Christ in us " is a terse expression for a 
thought which finds frequent and manifest expression in the 
Pauline epistles. 

These, then, are some of the things he saw in that vision : 
The nearness of the spirit world and the reality of the divine 
presence ; his direct and personal responsibility to divine 
authority ; the ultimate possibilities of humanity ; divine fel- 
lowship in human sufferings. Few things can so fit any 
man for the work of the ministry as these. They exerted a 
controlling influence over Paul. He was not disobedient to 
the heavenly vision. 

The aim of his life, and his conception of duty were 
changed. He entered upon a new course. Christ's will be- 
came supreme in him. Nothing could turn him from the 



241 OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 

path of duty. Immediately be conferred, not with flesh and 
blood, but in Demascus began to preach Jesus, and to de- 
fend the cause he had sought to destroy. Persecution could 
not stop him. The incident in the house of Philip, the 
evangelist, is typical in his devotion. When Agabus, a 
prophet, took Paul's girdle and bound his own hands and 
feet, and said, "Thus saith the Holy Spirit, so shall the 
Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and 
shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." Those 
who journeyed with him, and those of that place united in 
beseeching him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul an. 
swered, " What mean ye, to weep and to break mine heart? 
for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jeru- 
salem for the name of the Lord Jesus." His devotion to 
his master was stronger than death. 

From the time of his vision of Christ, he sought to build 
up manhood and womanhood according to the Divine pat- 
tern. This was the aim of his endeavors both for himself 
and for others. "But what things were gain to me," he 
says, " these I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and 
I count all things, but loss for the excellency of the knowl- 
edge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; for whom I have suffered the 
loss of all things, and do count them, but refuse, that I may 
win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own right- 
eousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the 
faith of Christ." His ideal, and the inspiration of his life 
was Christ. He exhorted his brethren to become followers 
of him, even as he was of Christ; and, casting aside every 
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset, to look unto 
Jesus as their model and helper. He thought of himself as 
a character builder, and he used all means furnished in the 
gospel for this end. In his vision, he had seen sublimest 
manhoocK and he sought to realize it. To make the divine 



OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 245 

ideal to become real in Luman character was the aim of all 
his ministry. All this is implied when he said, " I was not 
disobedient unto the heavenly vision." 

What has now been said of Paul has its lessons for us. 

We need visions. The possibility of all growth in men 
lies in their power to see visions. I know we are wont to 
turn away from men who think of things that are not as 
though they were, and to call them dreamers. But after all, 
these are the men who open the avenues along which we 
ascend to a nobler life. They are the vanguard in civilization. 
They are the discoverers, the inventors, the benefactors of 
our race. They look away from the things that are to the 
better things which might be. 

When the vigorous pioneer went to the wild West to hew 
from the forests a home for himself, he erected a rude log 
hut, and was content for awhile to dwell in it. But his in- 
dustry brought its reward, and he began to think of a better 
house. It arose in his mind as a vision before it arose as a 
habitation for himself and his. By and by fortune greatly 
increases his resources, and he has visions of a home with 
more comforts and more ample accommodations, and he 
builds it. So has he gone from the hut to the palace. 

The visions we have, the dreams that we dream de- 
cide what we shall be. The man who honestly looks to the 
elements of higher character, and longs for them must go 
higher. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after 
righteousness, for they shall be filled." But the man who 
thinks upon things that are base, must himself become base. 
We need heavenly visions. We need to look up. There is 
a profound philosophy in the exhortation, ' ' If ye then be 
risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where 
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections 
on things above, and not on things on the earth." The di- 



246 OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 

reetion of our affections must decide the direction of our 
growth. We need visions of 'the glorified Christ. We need 
to stand nearer to the unseen. 

If you understand me to be speaking of that sensuous 
conception of the spiritual, shown in the wonderful " expe- 
riences " so common in some sections and among the ignor- 
ant, I have sadly failed to make myself understood. I 
repudiate these as unworthy and un scriptural. I do not 
think that these sights and sounds and mysterious voices are 
any part of conversion. I am glad the masses are coming 
to a more rational and more scriptural conception of the 
nature of religion. 

Faith is designed to supply us with needed visions. In 
speaking of Moses' faith, it is said that "he endured as seeing 
him who is invisible." Paul says that faith is the evidence 
of things not seen — that is, faith is that by which or through 
which we see the unseen. This is the etymological meaning 
of evidence. Again he say-, "We walk by faith, not by 
sight." The contrast implied, in this statement is between 
our walk here, and our walk hereafter, when we shall see as 
we are seen and shall know as we are known. Now, we 
cannot literally see, but faith answers for sight — it gives us 
visions. 

There is a vast difference between faith embodied in a 
creed and faith implanted in the heart. There was a time 
when I might have written out what I would have regarded 
as a full and satisfactory statement of my faith, but I could 
not now. Faith is to me more than any formulated state- 
ments could possibly set forth. No more than I can fully 
set forth in writing all that I see, all that I feel, all the 
beautiful pictures that rise before my imagination, and the 
swellings of love in my heart, can I set forth in writing all 
that my faith is to me now. It is soul-sight. It is an artist, 



OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 247 

for by it are pictured heavenly visions. It is inspiration. 
It is the life of the Christian. Through it come the fore- 
tastes of heavenly joys. I believe a proposition in geometrj T , 
but my belief as a Christian is practically far different from 
that. The Bible representation of faith is that of a trans- 
forming, transfiguring, elevating, all- conquering power. 
"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our 
faith." By faith Enoch was translated ; by faith Noah was 
saved and became heir of righteousness ; by faith Abraham 
became a wanderer in a strange land ; by faith Moses was 
led to choose affliction with the people of God ; by faith the 
walls of Jericho fell down ; by faith kingdoms were subdued, 
weakness was made strong and armies were vanquished. 

An evangelist once asked a lady, who was a church-mem- 
ber, concerning her faith. She arose, went to the centre 
table, took up a book and handing it to him said, " That's 
my faith." " O, my dear madam," said he, "I cannot 
possibly read all this during my visit. Can't you epitomize, 
and state in a few words the principal features of your 
faith?" Then she went to the window, and throwing the 
shutters back, pointed down the street to a house on the 
opposite side, and said, " Do you see that small brown 
house ? Our pastor lives there. Call on him and he can tell 
you what my faith is." Her faith was in a book. It was a 
faith which some one else understood better than she. Or, 
there is reason to* suspect, she had. nothing worthy the name 
of faith. 

When Elisha was at Dothan, the king of S} T ria sent thither 
horses, and chariots and a great host, and they came by 
night and compassed the city about. They had come to take 
him and to deal with him as an enemy. And when the ser- 
vant of the man of G-od was risen early, and gone forth, 
behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and 



248 OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 

chariots. And his servant said unto him, "Alas, my master ! 
how shall we do? " And he answered, " Fear not ; for the}- 
that he with us are more than they that be with them." And 
Elisha prayed, and said, " Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, 
that he may see.' , And the Lord opened the eyes of the 
young man ; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses 
and chariots of fire round about Elisha. Before this miracle 
he knew not that an invisible army was encamped about 
them. The miracle did not bring the army, it only enabled 
the servant to see the angels of God encamped about them 
for their defence. 

The work of faith is similar to this. It enables us to en- 
dure as seeing the invisible. It gives us visions of the spiri- 
tual world, so near and yet unseen, save by the eye of faith. 

It gives us visions of the all-merciful Father, of our glori- 
fied Savior, of the work of the helpful Spirit, of ministering 
angels, of ransomed spirits of just men made perfect, of the 
many mansions in our Father's house, of the beautiful world 
above and the glories yet to come. Oh, the beautiful 
visions of a genuine Christian faith! But I cannot follow 
this thought further now. 

Unto what are you obedient? Is it to the changing cir- 
cumstances of your lot? Has your life no aim, no inspira- 
tion, no plan ? Do you float on the tide of events ! Are you 
as a ship on the high seas, without rudder, or chart or pilot? 
the sport of winds and waves ? 

Or, are 3^011 obedient to carnal appetites ? Is the question 
with you, ' ; What shall I eat, what shall I drink, and where- 
with shall I be clothed?" Is there no lofty aspiration in 
your heart? Is there nothing in you higher than in the 
beasts seeking prey, or the fowls seeking food? Are you 
like the rich fool of whom Christ spoke? O, brother man, 
this is unworthy of you. 



OBEDIENCE TO HEAVENLY VISIONS. 249 

Is it to earthly ambition born of visions of worldly glory 
yon are obedient? What is all this worth, if this be all? It 
fades. The record of it perishes. There sleeps, in our 
beautiful Hollywood, one of the Presidents of this great 
land in an unmarked grave. When Paul and Barnabas went 
to Lystra, the people in a wild burst of enthusiasm said, 
" The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men." 
Barnabas they called Jupiter, and Paul they called Mercury. 
The priests of Jupiter, who were before the city, brought 
oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sac- 
rifice with the people. A few days pass, and this same people 
with m >b violence drag Paul from the city and stone him 
until they suppose he is dead. So is it often. The hero 
and idol of to-day may be the martyr of to-morrow. Few 
things change so suddenly as popular applause. Let not this 
be the aim of your life. 

Be obedient to heavenly visions. See your personal rela- 
tion to a better world ; the lasting glory to which humanity 
can attain. Live from your better self. Let the noblest 
impulses of your heart be the controlling impulses of your 
life. " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what- 
soever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatso- 
ever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever 
things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if 
there be any praise, think on these things. " If you have 
never given yourself to Christ renounce all else and pros- 
trate cry, " Lord, what wilt thou •ha.ve me to do. " Listen 
to his voice, and be taught ; take his yoke, and be obedient. 
Seek for visions of him as inspirations of your life, and 
models after which you mould your characters into divine 
beauty. 



THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAN. 

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon 
and the stars, which thou hast ordained ; what is man, that thou art 
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 
Psalm viii: 3-4. 

Our religion receives its love and complexion, in great 
measure, from our estimate of man. Next to correct views 
of the divine nature I place correct. views' of human nature. 
It cannot be denied that much of what we find in formulated 
creeds and books of systematic divinity falls little short of 
systematic slander of humanity. For in many of these 
books, presented as guides to our faith, we find that affirmed 
concerning the entire race which we would not very readily 
affirm concerning the individuals who compose it. They 
teach that man — that all men — unless they have been sub- 
jects of special grace and have passed through a prescribed 
process, and so have become Christians, are totally depraved. 
That they cannot think a good thought or perform a good 
deed — that they are wholly averse to good, and wholly prone 
to evil. 

Now all this, strange as it may appear, is supposed to 
bring greater glory to God in loving him and seeking to save 
him. In opposition to such views, which seem to me to be 
erroneous and hurtful, I desire to present the divine estimate 
of man. I desire to speak a word for man ; not for any 
class, or grade, or profession, but for man simply as man. 
He has been trampled down under dogma, under creed, under 
priest-craft, under ceremony, under iron-hoofed ecclesiasti- 
(250) 



THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAN. 251 

cism. I desire to tell you something of what God thinks of 
him — simpty as man. 

In the first place, he is the crown of God's terrestrial 
creation. Not simply that he stands at the close of that 
grand drama, but that he stands above all things then made. 
He is the ultimate reason, in the divine mind, for all other 
things belonging to this lower creation. The first in design 
is often last in execution. 

We are familiar with the argument for a personal, intelli- 
gent creator drawn from the evidences of design manifest in 
all things about us. The argument is as old as the age of 
Socrates, and was used with great skill and force by Paley. 
Nor do I think it can be supplanted by a stronger, because 
it is of the nature and force of a demonstration. Every new 
fact brought to light through the researches of science but 
confirms it. Yet it seems to me the argument has not been 
carried forward to its legitimate end. It has been made to 
look backward and upward toward God only. Marks of 
design demonstrate there must have been an intelligent 
designer. But let us carry the argument forward, by inquir- 
ing the ultimate design of this intelligent designer. It is not 
enough to know that part is adjusted to part, and that one 
wheel works with beautiful exactness in another. Beyond 
all this adjustment and harmonious working there must be 
some ultimate end to be served. If not, then, though there 
may be marks of intelligence, there are none of design. A 
puzzle may show intelligence, but it looks to no ultimate end 
to be served. 

If we inquire as to the ultimate design of terrestrial crea- 
tion we find it in man. "Thou has made him to have 
dominion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all 
things under thy feet." Thejr were made subject to him to 
serve him. He is more in the sight of the creator than all 



'2')'2 THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAN. 

they. Before he made the earth and adorned it he thought 
of man. and because he thought of man he made all terres- 
trial things. Through many ages and up through a succes- 
sion of changes tl e earth was brought to a state which fitted 
it for his home. He adorned it with beauty, he filled it with 
treasures, and when all tilings had been prepared he said, 
''Let us make man." In making he reached the end for 
which other things were made. 

The Bible teaches us also that he is God's child. The 
formula used at the time of his creation is peculiar. — " Let 
us make man in our image, after our likeness. " The pattern 
for f man was not found in earth, but in heaven — in the image 
of the Creator himself was he made. " So God created man 
in his own image, in the image of God created he him." 
Of nothing else, of all created things can this be said. 

This likeness was two-fold. First, he was made like God 
in that a spiritual nature was given to him ; and, secondly, 
he was like God in sinlessness. And, though he fell, he did 
not thereby wholly lose this likeness. He lost his purity. 
His sinlessness gave way to sinfulness. His spiritual nature, 
however remained. 'This fact is abundantly recognized in 
subsequent declarations of the Scriptures concerning him. 
For instance, when the law concerning homicide was given 
to Noah, saying, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man 
shall his blood be shed." You remember the reason 
assigned was "for in the image of God made he man." 
There is a sacredness about human life because 
there is in man a likeness to God. This is the reason. 
But this reason would be of no force whatever — it 
could not be a reason at all — if in the fall the likeness to 
God was wholly lost. Then, too, we find this likeness still 
recognized by James, an apostle, when he reproves his 
brethren for a wrong use of the tongue, saying, "Therewith 



THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAX. 253 

bless we God, even the Father ; and therewith curse we men, 
which are made after the similitude of God." This he 
argues is inconsistent. It is as if the same fountain should 
send forth at the same time both sweet water and bitter. If 
we love God and bless God, we must love man and bless 
man ; because he is made in the image of God. Or, again, 
Paul argues against idolatry from the nature of man. His 
argument rests upon the likeness between man and his 
Maker. " Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God," 
he reasons, " we ought not to think that the Godhead is like 
unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's 
device." The nature of the Father he argues from the 
nature of his child. 

In the genealog}^ of Jesus, as given by Luke, the father- 
hood of God to man is plainly stated. Beginning with 
Joseph he traces the line back, saying, " Who was the son 
of Heli, who was the son of Mathat, who was the son of Levi, 
who was the son of Melchi, ' ' and on back, and back, and back, 
until he concludes the long line by saying, ' ' who was the son of 
Cainan, who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth, 
who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God." So 
that, as truly and as really as we are the sons of Adam, we 
are the sons of God ; for the line does not end in Adam, but 
in God. And this, not by virtue of adoption, not because of 
grace, not because we have been the subjects of any speoial 
change, but simply in virtue of the fact that God is the Father 
of us by natural generation. 

There is a school of religious philosophy extending from 
the days of Augustine to our own time which teaches prac- 
tically that we are by nature the children of Satan. The 
likenesss, even at our birth, is strongly marked. We are 
totally depraved. There is no good in us- We are, from 



2b 1 THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAN. 

the beginning wholly prone to evil and wholly averse to 
good. 

The modern application of the doctrine of evolution as an 
explanation of the origin of our species makes us, by nature, 
the children of the gorilla. Begining down at the lowest imag- 
inable point there has been a slow evolution, reaching upward 
all the time, until we come to man as its highest develop- 
ment — its flower. I have a work on "Man's Place in 
Nature," written by an eminent teacher of this school. I 
confess I have not read it with special care, but from a cur- 
sory examination of it and from its profusion of pictures of 
monkeys and apes and gorillas and such like, I learn that it 
traces our genealogy downward to the gorilla, and not up- 
ward toward God. The whole question between the old 
theology, the teachings of modern science, and the doctrine 
of the Bible is this — are we, by nature, sons of Satan, sons 
of the gorilla, or sons of God ? 

But, you ask, are not Christians only sons of God? Is 
not this the teaching of the New Testament and the doctrine 
of the church ? How then do you reconcile it with the idea 
of natural sonship? In this way. In many large families 
we find children divided into two classes, the obedient and 
the disobedient. So in God's great family. There are those 
who do not love him, they will not give heed to his counsels, 
they obey not his will. They go from his presence having 
no desire for his fellowship. They are wayward and pro- 
digal children. " We have all gone astray." But some 
come back. He forgives them and clothes them and pre- 
pares for them a feast, as did the good father in one of 
Christ's parables. They are nearer and dearer to him, and 
are sometimes spoken of as if they only were his children. 
Yet those who wander in sin are his too. And his call is 



THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAN. 255 

the loving entreaty of a father, calling back his wayward 
son. 

There is a practical lesson in this : The obligation to obey 
God is universal. There seems to be a view of this matter, 
quite generally received, which is very erroneous and hurtful. 
Many appear to think the obligation to lead a religious life 
does not rest upon them unless they assume that obligation. 
Just as the commander of an army has no right to command 
me unless I voluntarily place myself under his authority, 
thus assuming the obligation to obey him. So the obliga- 
tion to live a Christian life rests upon no one until he volun- 
tarily assumes that obligation. This is the popular view. 
It is wholly wrong. There are natural obligations as well as 
assumed ones, and our obligations to serve God belongs to 
this class ; yea, is chief among all obligations. The obliga- 
tion of the child to obey its parents is not an assumed one, 
but arises from the relationship. So the obligation of each 
man and woman to love God, and obey him, and honor him 
in all things by their lives arises from the natural relation- 
ship which exists between each one and the All-Father. 
This obligation is increased by God's manifestations of love 
for us all, and the provisions of his grace. The obligation 
already rests upon you, O, brother man, to live for God, and 
lead day by day, a Christian life. It is not waiting to be 
assumed. You have no right or reason to say "If I pro- 
fessed to be a Christian, I would not do this or that." The 
simple profession does not make it your duty to refrain. It 
is your duty already. You are God's child and should obey 
him. Let this thought find a lodgement in your heart. 

But the divine estimate of man is most clearly seen in 
God's gift of his Son to save. For God so loved the 
world — not the elect, not saints, not good people only — 
but God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten 



25 G THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAN. 

Son to save it. Yet even this passage has been perverted by 
presenting man as absolutely worthless, that the divine love 
may appear more lovely. But is not this heightening love at 
the sacrifice of judgment? To love that which is worthless 
and wholly unworthy of love is esteemed degrading in man ; 
how can it be exalting in God? The very fact that he 
reaches down his arm to rescue us, shows he must regard 
man as worth saving. 

I am walking along the street, a lady alights from her car- 
riage ; she pauses a moment, then quickly bows down and 
thrusts her hand into the melting snow and filth of the gut- 
ter and seems anxiously searching for something lost. At 
once I conclude it must be something exceedingly valuable to 
her. She has lost her diamonds — precious to her beyond 
their intrinsic merit' by sacred memories. So* when God 
thrusts down the arm of mercy into the moral filth of this 
world and searches in the places of iniquity — searches dili- 
gently and persistently for the lost — I conclude that to his 
heart they must be very dear. God so loved the world that 
lie sent his Son to seek and to save the lost. Not, God was 
filled with wrath and the Son came to appease the Father 
and reconcile him to the world. Ah, no — not that; al- 
though that is the way it has been often represented. But I 
prefer it as it reads in the Book, " God so loved the world." 
Fallen and stained and blasted in character ; rushing head- 
long toward ruin ; sinful and sinning, yet. God looked down 
from heaven, and with more than a mother's, care he sought 
to save the lost. 

You remember the parable of the prodigal son? Well, it 
seems to me it would be better to call it the parable of the 
good father. How tender was his goodness, how cordial 
was his welcome to his returning son ! What could be more 
gracious? Tie does not inquire into the past, nor chide him 



THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAN. 257 

for bis sins ; he does not suffer him to complete the speech, 
full of penitence and promise and humility, he intended to 
make. He does not give him a servant's place, as he had 
determined to ask — ' ' Make me as one of thy hired ser- 
vants." But a cordial embrace and a fatherly kiss ; a robe 
and a ring and a feast ; joyous music and merry dancings 
and the features that brighten the scene of that welcome. 
How gracious ! 

And 3"et this — full of grace and mercy as it is — this 
does not fully represent the grace and mercy of God toward 
us. Have you ever thought upon it? That father did not 
once send after his wandering boy ; he did ' not ask him to 
return ; he made no promise of forgiveness, should he come 
back. None of these things appear in that parable. Yet 
they all appear in the case of the universal Father. He sent 
prophet after prophet ; he made promise after promise- 
Finally he sent his own Son, — his only-begotten and well- 
beloved. He came to call the children back to their Father, 
against whom they had sinned. 

Nor is this all. He died to bring them back. His cross 
stands as the symbol of his ministry of reconciliation. It 
is God's appeal. It is love's demonstration. " For when 
we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for 
the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die ; 
3 r et peradventure for a good man some would even dare to 
die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while 
we were yet sinners, Christ, died for us. " In the presence of 
the cross, radiant with the beams of love, while it trembles 
under the burden of its sufferings, I can no longer doubt 
the feeling of God's heart toward man. Crown of his terres- 
tial creation; his child, though wayward and disobedient; 
upon him he pours of the fulness of his love and the riches 

17 



258 THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF MAN. 

of his grace, and seeks to win him back to filial obedience 
and loving fellowship. 

Bat my presentation of the divine estimate of man would 
be fearfully imperfect were I not to add that God thinks him 
in great peril through sin. The great sacrifice of his Son 
shows this ; his terrible warnings show it ; the earnestness of 
his call shows it. Were I to rush to your house at night 
while 3'ou sleep, and vigorously ring your bell, and shout 
vociferously, and batter against the door as if I would break 
it down, to arouse you, you would suppose that danger, im- 
minent danger threatened you. I cry fire ! fire ! ! fire ! ! ! 
until you are startled and rush for safety. So is the call of 
the gospel. It is God's call to the endangered. He knocks 
at the door ; he rings every bell ; he cries to you to flee for 
safety, and the alarm of fire sounds the knell of the world. 
O ! thou crowned one of God, O ! thou child of an everlast- 
ing, ever-loving Father, O! thou ransomed one of God, flee 
for safety and come home ! 



MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, 
and not to please ourselves. Rom. xv:l. 

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 
Gal. vi:2. 

The importance which should be attached to these injunc- 
tions is indicated by the connection in which we find them. 
For they are not incidental or casual words of advice but 
deliberate and fundamental rules for Christian life. The 
first stands as a summary conclusion and practical applica- 
tion of the argument of the entire preceding chapter — the 
fourteenth chapter of Romans, — while the second is imme- 
diately followed by the statement, "and so fulfil the law 
of Christ. " The first is a brief application of practical 
charity toward the weak ; the second is a practical applica- 
tion of what Paul calls the law of Christ. 

The law here referred to is the law of love. You may find 
it in the thirteenth chapter of St. John. "A new command- 
ment I give unto you," said Christ, " that ye love one 
another ; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." 
It is called a new law, and the laiv of Christ, not because it is 
absolutely new, nor because it emenated from Christ ori- 
ginally, but because he lifted the law of love into greater 
prominence and made it serve a new purpose. He makes it 
the law of his kingdom and the badge of discipleship to him. 
" Love is the fulfilling of the law." That is, all the laws of 
my reign find their centre in this law — it inspires obedience 
to all laws. In another place he says, "If ye love me }^ou 
will keep my commandments," and, converse!}-, it is true 

( 259) 



260 MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 

that if we do not love him we neither will nor can, in any 
worthy sense, keep his commandments. The world is to 
know that we are his disciples because they see in us a practi- 
cal exemplification of this love of love. " By this," he says, 
" shall all men knowthat ye are my disciples, if ye have love 
one to another." Men are to know that we are his followers 
not by any peculiar forms of speech, as " thee " and " thou, " 
'"3 r ea" and "nay;" nor by any peculiar cut of clothing, 
or style of hats and bonnets ; not by sanctimonious, Phari- 
saical faces, nor hv church connection, and Sunday commun- 
ion, but by the gentleness and helpfulness and beneficence 
of love. As the motive of his earth-life and ministry was 
love, so must this be the controlling principal in us. It is 
this which differentiates the Christian. 

It is true that mutual burden-bearing and helpfulness 
may be found elsewhere. In commercial circles we some- 
times find the strong bearing burdens for the weak — a man's 
creditors do not press him, men of capital may extend a 
helping hand to lift a business man over temporary difficul- 
ties — but these, as a rule, do not arise from disinterested 
love. They arise from business considerations. So also 
men band themselves together for mutual help through secret 
organizations, but the motives which control them in doing 
this is selfish. Many life insurance companies are organized 
upon the same basis. The thought is, I desire help and so I 
will bind myself to extend help. The principle is essentially 
different from that which underlies the injunction of the 
texts. 

It is not until we come into the domestic circle that we 
find anything like the burden-bearing and helpfulness of 
which the apostle speaks. In the family, the strong bear the 
infirmities of the weak. Infancy and age are ministered to 
out of love. The infirm, the weak, the afflicted are nourished 



MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 261 

by the care of affection. The law of Christ is simply a 
broader application of the law of the household. As men 
and women do in the best homes, so let them do in the church 
and the world. Under the magic power of the gospel, and 
the example of Christ — 

Love takes up the harp of life, and smiles on all its chords with 

might, 
Smites the chord of self, that, trembling, glides in music out of sight. 

Before speaking of the burdens we may bear for others 
it may be well to say there is one burden which each must 
bear for himself — no one can bear it for another — and that 
is the burden of personal responsibility. Paul mentions this 
in connection with each text. In Romans he says, "Who 
art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own 
master he standeth or falleth." And in the same chapter he 
says again, " So then every one of us, must give account of 
himself to God." The emphasis belongs on the word him- 
self. No one can account for us. Then in Galatians he 
says, " For every man shall bear his own burden," meaning 
the burden of personal responsibility. So this is not to be 
'classed with the burdens we are taught to bear for the weak. 

When he says that the strong ought to bear the infirmities 
of the weak, and not to please themselves, it seems clear 
that he refers to weakness of faith ; for of that he had 
been writing. In that da}' there was a diversity of opinion 
and feeling concerning some matters of minor importance, 
owing to differences in early surroundings and training. 
Some thought it a great sin to eat certain meats, while others 
ate of these with perfect indifference. Some esteemed cer- 
tain days as sacred, and thought they should be so observed, 
while others regarded all days alike, and so treated them. 
The first, Paul calls weak ; the latter strong. They had so 



262 MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 

grown in the nature and matter of the Christian faith that 
such distinctions had vanished. The difference between 
these two clases veiy naturally tended to discussion and 
strife. 

It was in view of all this that he wrote. He teaches the 
strong how they should bear themselves toward the weak, 
and the weak how they should bear themselves toward the 
strong. The- law for each was the law of love. The four- 
teenth chapter of Romans is the thirteenth chapter of first 
Corinthians applied. The strong should not contemn the 
scruples of the weak, but in brotherly love accommodate 
themselves to these scruples in ' all matters of indifference. 
On the other hand, the weak should not be exacting, and en- 
deavor to bind his brother under a yoke made of his scruples. 
There is liberty in Christ. The kingdom of God is not 
meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in 
the Holy Spirit. Religion is not observances, but inward 
states and experiences, The unity of Christ's kingdom is a 
unity of spirit rather than uniformity in,the details of life 
and worship. He who exacts absolute uniformity mistakes 
the nature of the heavenly kingdom, and is forgetful of the 
liberty allowed us in Christ. But we must not use this lib- 
erty so as to offend them or cause them to stumble. We 
that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and 
not to please ourselves. 

There is room for this exercise of brotherly charity to-da}^. 
There are questions concerning matters of indifference now 
as there were in Paul's time. We may feel assured they are 
matters of indifference and yet we must not so bear ourselves 
as to hurt or hinder others. He that is weak in the faith is 
to be received, but not to doubtful disputations. 

A man may differ from me in my interpretations of many 
passages of Scripture, but I am not to refuse to recognize 



MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 263 

him for that. Here comes a man, for instance, who says, 
" I do not understand the last verse in the twenty-fifth chap- 
ter of Matthew just as you do. I do not understand it to 
teach the endlessness of future punishment, you do. But, 
while I do not agree with you in your interpretation of this 
passage, I do love Christ with all my heart, and I am earn- 
estly striving to walk in all the commandments and ordi- 
nances of the Lord blameless. Will you exclude me for the 
difference I have named? " I answer, no. For while I am 
certain that the doctrine of the endlessness of future pun- 
ishment is taught in that passage, and elsewhere in the Word 
of God, yet that difference shall not mar the fraternity be- 
tween us. Or another says, "I cannot agree with you in 
your interpretation of Acts ii : 38. I do not think that 
baptism in order to the remission of sins is taught either 
there or elsewhere in the Word of God, yet I believe with all 
my heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God ; 
I trust him and love him ; I desire to be baptized in obedi- 
ence to his command. Will you baptize me, not holding 
with you that baptism is in order to the remission of sins? " 
I answer, certainly. At the same time, it seems as clear to 
me as it could possibly have been made, that when Peter said 
to inquirers at Pentecost, " Repent, and be baptized every 
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 
sins," he teaches that baptism is for, or in order to, the re- 
mission of sins. Yet this man loves Christ and desires to 
serve him. I receive and baptize him. 

There are also matters arising in the details of worship 
which call for charity. The lack of it has destroyed the 
peace and ruined the usefulness of many churches. The 
smallest questions are large enough to lead to division and 
disaster if men and women, without love, arrange themselves 



264 MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 

on opposite sides of them. The place where the choir 
should sit, the vr&y the house should be warmed, whether 
there should be an organ or a baptistery, plans for work, 
method of receiving converts into the fellowship of the 
church, and a score of other questions will arise which might 
easily be settled where love rules, but where narrowness, 
and self-conceit and bitterness reign — they grow into tests 
of fellowship. 

In the section of country in which I was reared the custom 
of receiving converts into the church was that each member 
should extend the hand during the singing of a hymn. I 
remember there came a new preacher to one of the churches 
who, in giving the hand of fellowship, simply asked the 
members to rise while he, in their behalf extended the hand. 
This was a departure — an innovation — a step towards 
apostasy ! A good old man came to see my father and, had 
the new preacher been guilty of some gross immorality, it 
could not have created deeper concern ! I knew a lady who 
would not attend the church of which she was a member sim- 
ply because a baptistery had been put in. I have known 
mairy to act in the same way because an instrument of music 
was there. I once preached a sermon in a church where ah 
organ had been recently introduced. Some remained out of 
the house, waiting to see whether it would be used on that 
occasion, before they would even enter the building ! 

Such cases may seem extreme and absurd to some of you, 
and yet many of these are earnest, godly men and women. 
You say the} r are weak in the faith, and fail to understand 
the liberty allowed us in such matters. What shall be done? 
Ridicule and contemn them ? No. But with brotherly kind- 
ness we are to bear with them. If they are lovers of Jesus 
Christ, striving to serve him and to do good in the world we 



MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 265 

are not to allow differences to kindle into animosities. Ye 
that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and 
not to please yourselves. This is practical charity. 

Then, too, we are to bear with their moral weaknesses. In 
Galatians Paul was speaking of these weaknesses, for he had 
just said, " If a man be overtaken in a. fault, ye which are 
spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness ; con- 
sidering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Spiritual power, 
the ability to resist temptation to evil, is much stronger in 
some than in others. 

I believe in inherited moral weakness as I do in that 
physical and mental weaknesses may be inherited. We are 
familiar with inherited tendencies toward drunkenness and 
other forms of vice. Dr. Dugdale, of New York, has brought 
to public notice a striking illustration. He followed the lives 
of descent from one Margaret Jukes through six generations, 
including in all seven hundred and nine persons — thieves, 
prostitutes, murderers, and idiots. The whole line was mor- 
ally corrupt. The Chinese so firmly believe depravity to be a 
taint of the blood, that a criminal's father and grandfather 
are sometimes required to perish with him. 

Then, too, early surroundings and, later on, our business 
associations have much to do with the question of moral 
strength. You who have been so blessed as to have grown 
up in Christian homes, do you suppose God will judge the 
child of the alley and the den of the same standard as that 
by which you will be judged? According to strength, ac- 
cording to ability, according to opportunity must each be 
judged. You say that it would be unjust to require the 
child, physically weak, to bear the same burden that the 
robust can bear with ease. But why not apply the same 
reasoning when the weakness is moral instead of physical ? 



266 MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 

Men often form habits, before conversion, which become so 
really a part of themselves that grace cannot remove them at 
once, and supply the weakness which these habits have caused. 
Simon, of whom we read in the eighth chapter of Acts, was 
a remarkably successful magician. For a long time he had 
deceived the Samaritans. He seems to have been enterpris- 
ing in the prosecution of his questionable calling, gathering 
from every source and regardless of expense, new stores of 
knowledge of the magician's arts. When he fell, it was 
through the weakness formed through this habit ; for when 
he saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the 
Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, " Give 
me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may 
receive the Holy Ghost." His practices had made him weak 
at that point. 

But whatever may be the weakness, or from whatever 
cause it may come, it is to receive Christian consideration. 
Not that we are to look upon sin as a matter of indifference. 
No, no. We are to abhor evil. We should strive, however, 
to abhor it as God abhors ; for while he abhors sin he loves 
the sinner. There are those who seem to think the abhorrence 
of evil can be shown in no other way than by detesting and 
shunning the evil-doer. So thought the Pharisees in Christ's 
day. So has the sect of the Pharisees thought from that day 
to this. But was not Christ's way of abhorring evil the truer, 
better way? He showed his abhorrence by loving the sinner 
and seeking to rescue him from its dominion. A 
man who says he abhors evil, goes down the street and he 
meets a gamin, a bundle of depravity, and gives him a kick. 
That's the way he shows his abhorrence. Another, coming 
after, sees the specimen of depravity and shuns him, saying, 
"I abhor that which is evil." By and by, here comes 



MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 267 

another who, seeing him, says, "I abhor that which is evil," 
and he takes the lad to his home and seeks to cure him of 
his evil. He shows a divine abhorrence of evil. 

In church discipline we need the wisdom of a loving heart. 
Let us not erect absolute standards by which each is to be 
measured. Here comes a man, for instance, weak in some 
point of his moral constitution. He desires to follow Christ. 
He makes an honest effort. Soon he gives way, through 
weakness, to sin. He tries again and fails. What should 
we do ? We should bear with him and encourage and help 
him. I believe that so long as men sincerely desire to live 
right and honestly endeavor to follow Christ we should do 
this. Do not say men should be cast out for doing certain 
things. That will not do, for men of genuine love for Christ, 
men who are struggling for a better life, may be overtaken 
by that very fault. Though the number of their failures be 
seventy times seven, we are to seek to restore them. The 
controlling idea should be their final salvation. 

We often need the patience and perseverance of a mother's 
love. Her child is sick with some loathsome disease. She 
says, "I abhor this disease," and so she watches over her 
child day and night, using every means she can command 
for its recovery. She does not abandon 'hope, nor does she 
cease her vigilance. The child sinks very near the gates of 
death. Still she cares for it. She does not grow weary. 
Her ministries are constant. After weeks have passed by, 
her watchings and ministries are rewarded by returning 
health. Such love, such care, such patient ministry do we 
need sometimes in restoring men to spiritual health. We 
are to bear with them patiently, 3-et not with the patience of 
indifference, but with the patience of love. 

There are also burdens of daily trials, of rasping, wear- 
ing cares, of afflictions which we should help others to 



268 MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 

bear. The cases which Christ will mention with appproba- 
tion in the final judgment will be those of help extended to 
the helpless. You have fed the hungry, given drink to the 
thirsty, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the impris- 
oned, and ministered to the children of want. There are al- 
ways in the world men and women who seem to be pre-or- 
dained failures. They come into life badly organized, lacking 
the elements of success. There are those who struggle on in 
the great march of life as the disabled soldier, "unable to bear 
arms, unable even to keep place in the ranks. We are to 
help them. 

There are those with whom the affairs of life never run 
smoothly. They inherit a deranged nervous system. Every 
thing that touches them rubs the wrong way. Even har- 
mony grates as discord on their ears. Life is full of annoy- 
ances, of forebodings, of cares, of burdens. They cannot 
be at peace as other men are. 

Blessed are they who have good nerves. Blessed are they 
who have been well born. Blessed are they who feel that 
there is harmony between themselves and their circumstances. 
Blessed are they who can discern music in the movements of 
events, for they are the elect of the earth. Blessed are 
they who know how to be patient and sympathetic and help- 
ful, giving of their strength to supplement the weakness of 
others. Ye that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of 
the weak and not to please yourselves. Open your hearts 
in sympathy, extend your hand in benefactions, speak words 
of cheer, lose yourself for others, and your life shall be a 
hymn of praise and a holy benediction. 

I would fain offer some suggestions to aid in the perform- 
ance of this pleasant duty. Of course, we cannot literally 
take burdens from other's shoulders and place them on our 
own. But we can do that which answers the same purpose — 



MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 269 

we can make them strong to bear these burdens. So, also, we 
are to bear ourselves in such a way that we will not place 
upon them burdens too great for their strength. There may 
be many things which you can do without injury to yourself, 
which they, essaying to do, would be crushed. Be consider- 
ate of their weakness. 

Were I out on a holiday with these children and should 
we, in our ramblings, come to a swollen mountain brook, I 
might be able to cross it with ease. My stature and strength 
enable me to stand against the current. But I must not be 
forgetful of the weaker ones about me. Were I to cross, 
they might attempt it and be swept away. While we pray 
"Lead us not into temptation," let us be careful lest by 
our example we lead others into temptations too great for 
them. 

Then, too, if we desire to obey the injunction of the texts, 
we should study men and burdens. We should know how to 
quickly detect these burdens, and then how to get hold upon 
them. Kindness of heart is a good instructor. Yet have I 
seen some who by their very awkwardness make the 
burdens heavier and more grievous to be borne. We need 
tact. 

Let us not look for too great a field for the display of our 
brotherly help. Great afflictions bring many sympathizers ; 
while daily troubles, and the accumulated burdens of petty 
sorrows and annoyances, have to be borne alone. Do not 
aim too high. Some one has beautifully said that one Niag- 
ara, with its mighty thunder and rush and roar, is enongh for 
a whole continent. What we need are bright streams flow- 
ing through woodland and meadow and field, singing as they 
go, making their banks beautiful with verdure and flowers. 

It is a part of our mission as Christians to make this world 
happier, by making it stronger in all virtue and all good- 



270 ' MUTUAL HELPFULNESS. 

ness. We are to shine as lights. We are to brighten homes 
and gladden hearts and inspire songs. We are to relieve the 
oppressed and bring liberty to those who are bound. We 
are to wipe tears from the face of sorrow. We are to bring 
the light of hope to those in the gloom of despair. We are 
to be eyes for the blind and feet for the lame. We are to be 
gentle and kind and compassionate and helpful to all. In 
brief, we are to reproduce the spirit of Christ in the midst 
of weakness and want. He went every whither doing good. 
He was not harsh in judgment wherever he saw weak na- 
tures in sin, yet struggling against their weakness. He was 
severe against pretense, against hypocrisy, against great 
professions without goodness, against religion that had not 
benevolence, against self- righteousness — against these he 
was terrible. His words sounded as the thunders of judg- 
ment, and smote as lightings of wrath. 

But to the oppressed he was a deliverer, to the sin-burdened, 
a savior. He came to take upon himself the burdens we 
could not bear. "Behold the Lamb of God that beareth 
away the sin of the world." There is a burden too great 
for us to bear. It is the burden of sin. JLower, and yet 
lower, it will sink us. No one but Christ can take this 
burden and bear it for us. You remember that Bunyan's 
Pilgrim struggled in vain under this burden until he bowed 
at the foot of the cross. Then it rolled off. He arose free. 
So, O you sin-burdened I ask you to come to the cross and 
cast down your burden, there. Christ will give you liberty 
by bearing it for you. 



SERVICE AND HONOR. 

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there 
shall also my servant be ; if any man serve me, him will my Father 
honor. John xii : 26. 

This saying of our Master contains two thoughts which it 
is my purpose to eleborate briefly this morning. The first 
is, that Christian living is service to Christ ; and the second, 
that God, the Father, will honor the servants of his Son. 
May we, by a devout meditation upon these matters, be led 
to a clearer apprehension of our calling, and be encouraged 
by the blessed promise of divine honor, to greater fidelity as 
the servants of Christ. 

1. The New Testament idea of religion is that of willing, 
cheerful, hearty sendee rendered daily to Christ. "If any 
man serve me." Some one has said that practical religion 
contains three elements — working, fighting and enduring^ 
and that to work devoutly, to fight wisely, and to endure 
patiently is the sum of Christian duty. This is an excellent 
summary of the elements of practical religion. These may, 
however, be classed under one general head — service to 
Christ. For if we work devoutly, it is under the yoke and 
guidance of Christ. He is our Master and our Model. If 
we fight wisely, it is that we may please him who has called 
us to be soldiers. And if we endure patiently it must be 
because of our trust in Christ, our reliance on his promises, 
and the inspiration of his example as a patient silent suf- 
ferer. 

Willing, cheerful, hearty, daily service to Christ is there- 
fore a most complete generalization of practical religion. 

(271) 



272 SERVICE AND HONOR. 

A favorite conception of religion, especially among a cer- 
tain class of religionists, is that it consists of particular 
forms of faith, and phases of feeling ; of ecstatic emotions 
and Sunday observances. In some mysterious way, as they 
think, God breathes in upon the soul and this divine inflation 
is religion The practical nature of service — daily service — 
if often overlooked. 

James gives us a statement of his view of religion which 
is, in every way, thoroughly practical: " If any man among 
you seem to be religious, and brideleth not his tongue, 
but deceiveth his own heart, that man's religion is vain. 
Pure religion and undented before God and the Father is 
this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, 
and to keep himself unspotted from the world. ' ' Here are 
given three tests of the genuineness of every profession of 
religion ; and they show that, according to his understand- 
ing, all true religion is very practical. First, pure religion 
is shown by the wise government of the tongue. The liar, 
the slanderer, the tale-bearer, the scandal-monger, the gossip, 
the complainer, — every one who does not bridle his tongae, 
whatever his profession may be, this apostle declares that his 
religion is vain. Horace thus describes a man : — 

" He said 
Or right or wrong, what came into his head." 

There are some of this class yet, and they seem to pride 
themselves on their candor, and to rejoice in their liberty of 
speech! Their religion is vain, however, an apostle being 
judge. Then another mark of genuine religion is personal 
purity — keeping themselves unspotted from the world. Not 
in any pharisaical way, not by secluding themselves as her- 
mits do, but by the power of a purifying faith within their 
heart, They are in the world, but not of it. In the midst 



SERVICE AND HONOR. 27 O 

of corruption they are undented, as the sunbeam shines into 
all manner of impurity, and itself remains pure. And a 
third mark of genuine religion is active charity — visiting the 
fatherless and widows in their affliction. He who in life 
manifests these elements of self-control, purity, and practical 
benevolence shows the genuineness of his religion, for in 
these things he follows Christ. 

Nor are we to regard this practical life of service to Christ 
as simply one phase of his religion. It is true there is both 
doctrine and duty in religion ; it is both a science and an 
art. But doctrine is only the guide to duty, and the art is 
nothing but the science applied. The aim of all teaching is 
right-living, and we do err whenever we so separate between 
practical religion and doctrinal religion as virtually to divorce 
them. The most profound problems of revelation, the deepest 
reasoning in inspired theology form the roots of holiness and 
goodness in life. 

The strongest chain of close-linked reasoning to be found 
in the Bible is in Paul's letter to the church in Rome. In 
that letter he deals with the whole theory of human redemp- 
tion and the profound problems involved. He sketches the 
picture of the moral degradation of man, shows the uni- 
versality of sin and demonstrates the impossibility of justifi- 
cation by deeds of law. He contrasts Adam with Christ, 
and shows how by the atonement which Christ has made, God 
can still be just and yet the justifier of them that believe in 
Jesus. In his reasonings he descends into the deep things 
of God, and traces the marvels of his grace and wisdom in 
the solution of the problem of sin and redemption, chapter 
after chapter, until at the close of the eleventh chapter he 
emerges with the exclamation, " O the depth of the riches 
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearch- 
able are his judgments and his ways past finding out ! * * * 

18 



27-1 SERVICE AND HONOR. 

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things : to 
whom be gkny forever. Amen." 

But no sooner does he conclude his course of profound 
reasoning than he turns it all to practical account. It bears 
upon life. It is the root from which humility, and fraternity, 
and helpfulness, and industry, and patience, and benevolence, 
and obedience to civil rulers, and all Christian virtues spring, 
and by which they are nourished and made strong. The 
practical exhortations in the concluding chapters of this 
epistle find their reason and strength in the profound reason- 
ing of its earlier chapters. The vital cord that joins the two 
parts is found in the word therefore, in the opening of the 
twelfth chapter — "I beseech 3^011 therefore" — in view of 
all the foregoing — "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by 
the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living 
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable 
service." 

Even doctrine — which now popularly means speculative 
theology or statements of faith concerning matters of con- 
troversy — even doctrine, in New Testament phraseology, 
means simply teaching, and that, as a rule, concerning 
daily duties. Paul, for instance, earnestly desired his sons, 
Timothy and Titus, to be sound in doctrine. His letters to 
them abound in such expressions as these, — "Take heed 
unto thyself and to the doctrine," — " In all things showing 
thyself a pattern of good works ; in doctrine showing uncor- 
ruptness, gravity, sincerity," — "Speak thou the things 
which become sound doctrine," — "Be instant in season, 
out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suf- 
fering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will 
not endure sound doctrine." But I need not multiply illus- 
trations of his anxiety for the soundness of their doctrine. 
He was, certainly, deeply solicitous. 



SERVICE AND HONOR. 275 

Yet when we examine into this — whioh to so many seems 
wholly removed from daily life — we find that by it Paul 
meant practical teaching concerning life and duty. For 
instance, instructions concerning the duty to provide honestly 
for those dependent upon us is sound doctrine ; f < r he says : 
"These things give in charge that they may be blameless. 
But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those 
of his own house, he has denied the faith and is worse than 
an infidel. ' ' Doctrine — sound doctrine — was sound teach- 
ing concerning deportment, for he says : ' ' But speak thou the 
things which become sound doctrine : that the aged men be 
sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience 
The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as be- 
cometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, 
teachers of good things ; that they teach the young women 
to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to 
be descreet, chaste, keepers at home, obedient to their own 
husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young 
men likewise exhort to be sober-minded. * * * Exhort 
servants to be obedient to their own masters, and to please 
them well in all things ; not answering again, not purloining, 
but showing all go d fidelity ; that they may adorn the doc- 
trine of God our Savior in all things." All manner of per- 
sonal impurity, and immorality, and vice he regarded as con- 
trary to sound doctrine for, after mentioning a long and fear- 
fully dark list of these things, he concludes by adding, 
"And if there be any other thing that is cont-rary to sound 
doctrine." 

It is clear that doctrine was simply teaching, and this con- 
cerning the practical affairs of life. With this understand- 
ing of it, I can say I think we need more doctrinal preaching. 
Let us not think of making all men and women profound 
theologians, but let us strive the rather to teach them how to 



276 SERVICE AND HONOR. 

live. Let us endeavor to make them thoroughly orthodox 
in heart and life. According to the New Testament, religion 
is a very practical affair. It is the daily subjection of all 
our powers to the will of Christ. It is willing, cheerful, 
hearty service rendered to him. 

But how can men engaged in business, and women cum- 
bered with domestic duties give their lives in daily service to 
Christ? I suppose this question has already come to your 
mind. You think it easy for a minister of the gospel to do 
this, for he is in large measure free from business cares ; but 
how can men and women who are not exempt from these 
things, but are compelled to give themselves to secular and 
domestic concerns, give their lives in daily service to Christ? 

Many, supposing that it is impossible to serve Christ fully 
while engaged in secular callings, have abandoned their call- 
ings and secluded themselves that they might give undivided 
time and attention to spiritual concerns. They shut them- 
selves in from the world. But is it needful to do this in 
order to serve Christ daily? Is this, after all, the bestservice 
we can render to him ? 

Paul teaches servants to serve Christ even in the service 
which seems rendered to an earthly master only. ''Ser- 
vants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh ; 
not with ej'e-service, as men pleasers ; but in singleness of 
heart, fearing God ; and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to 
the Lord, and not unto men. ' ' The lowest service may be ex- 
alted, and sanctified, and may become a means of grace if only 
it be done as to the Lord. If, then", the service which was ex- 
acted of a slave can be performed, transfiguring it through 
lofty motive, that it becomes service to Christ, surely all 
service may be ennobled and transfigured. There is no 
position in which one can be placed, there no duties that 
can be made incumbent upon him, there are no tasks he 



SERVICE AND HONOR. 277 

can be required to take up, but that in them he may serve 
Christ. 

" We need not bid, for cloistered cell, 

Our neighbor and our work farewell : 

The trivial round, the common task, 

May furnish all we ought to ask — 

Room to deny ourselves, a road 

To bring us, daily, nearer God." 

Let me suggest to you some rules which I have found 
helpful, and which I trust may prove profitable to you in 
your effort to make your every-day life a service to our blessed 
Lord. 

First, of all, do away wUh the idea that religion is limited 
to certain services. The usual broad distinction between 
things sacred and things secular is erroneous and hurtful. 
Religion does not find its full application and field of activity 
within the limited range to which it is too often practically 
confined. It is not a dutj T , nor a certain class of duties, 
but it has to do with the whole, range of life and should 
sanctify all duties. We should carry it into business, into 
society, into pleasure, into politics — everywhere and into 
all things. Let it reign over the marts of trade, let it con- 
trol all activity, let it sanctify wealth, let it ennoble toil, let 
it purify social intercourse, let it brood as a loving presence 
over all the ways and works of men. Let it elevate all 
things secular until they become sacred. Religion does not 
belong" to the church and to holy day only, but to every place 
and to every day. 

In the second place, cultivate a sense of the perpetual 
presence of Christ. Too many seem to think of him as 
confined to sacred places, and that he is present with us only 
when we worship. Like Jacob, when resting in a desert 
place, he thought of the Lord as not there, but as in his 



278 SERVICE AND HONOR. 

home he had left, so are we. It was a surprise to him to find 
the Lord with him in that solitary place. "Surely the 
Lord is in Jhis place ; and I knew it not." Enoch walked 
with God ; Moses endured as seeing him who is invisible. 
This is the explanation of their endurance, their power, their 
holiness. The sense of his presence will be sanctifying and 
sustaining It will become an easy thing to serve him in our 
daily callings if we come to think of him as ever present. 

In the third place, train yourself to carry a devotional 
spirit, a loving heart, an active conscience into all }*ou 
do. It will aid you greatly if you will, now and then, all 
through the day lift up your heart in prayer. This, it seems 
to me, is what Paul means by praying always. We can train 
our hearts to cast loving, reverent glances toward our lov- 
ing friend. 

And last, of these rules to help us to serve Christ in our 
daily calling : Remember that for all thoughts, all words, all 
work we are at least to give account to him. Oh, how 
this will help us to do all thing as, not unto men only, but 
"as unto Christ." So may we all — so may we always 
serve Christ, and he has said: " If any man serve me him 
will my Father honor." 

2. The second thought is that God, the Father, will honor 
the servants of his Son. 

I have not yet attained to that exalted state in which it is 
thought to be unworthy of us to be influenced in our Chris- 
tian living by the promises of reward. Ncr do I mourn this 
fact very deeply For so long as it is said of Moses that he 
had "respect unto the recompense of reward;" and of the 
patriarchs, that their desire for a better country which God 
had promised them led them through all their wandering ; 
and of Christ himself that for the joy that was set before him 
he endured the cross — so long as these examples endure I 



SERVICE AND HONOR. 279 

need not feel ashamed to confess I am influenced, in a meas- 
ure, by the promises which are given to a life of service. 
They are given as motives, as inspirations, as helps. Ity 
these exceeding* great and precious promises we are to be 
made partakers of the divine nature. By patient continu- 
ance in well doing we are taught to seek for glory, honor 
and immortality. The promise of divinely -bestowed honors, 
therefore, should incite us to more faithful service. 

I cannot venture an effort to picture what this promised 
honor will be. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has 
prepared for them that love him." I know that he honors 
the servants of his Son, even in this life, with special bless- 
ings ; for it is not until we enter upon that service that we 
can claim the blessings of forgiveness, adoption and the in- 
dwelling of his Holy Spirit as ours. I know that he honors 
these servants with exalted titles. They are the elect, the 
salt of the earth, the light of the world. They are exalted 
to a roj'al priesthood. They are sons and daughters of the 
Lord .Almighty. " Behold, what manner of love the Father 
hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of 
God. * * * Behold, now are- we the sons of God, and 
it»doth not yet appear, what we shall be ; but we know that, 
when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see 
him as he is." The glory which awaits the servants of 
Christ will not be made manifest until he shall appear in the 
clouds of heaven, clothed with the glory of his Father and 
attended by the angels. Paul says, "When Christ, who 
is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in 
glory." 

There is coming unto every faithful servant of our Lord a 
time of exaltation. When countless hosts shall stand in one 
vast assembly before the throne of his glory they shall be 



280 SERVICE AND HONOR. 

crowned. ' ' Well done, good and faithful servant ; thoa 
hast been faithful over a few things, I make thee ruler over 
many things.. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. ' ' There 
is come a day of glorious transfiguration — of manifesta- 
tion. The faithful toilers in places of obscurity, in fields of 
difficulty, in circumstances of discouragments shall come 
forth. The world knows them not and is not worthy of 
them. They shall come forth. It is the day of their coro- 
nation. The trumpets of angels usher in the glad day. 
The implements of toil, the raiment of servitude are laid 
aside. Crowns and robes and scepters are given. The 
palace of God resounds with notes of joy. 

" Nearest the throne, and first in song, 

Man shall his hallelujahs raise ; 
While wondering angels round him throng, 

And swell the chorus of his praise." 

Whose servants are you ? Are you striving to. serve Christ 
according to the measure of your ability and the field of 
your opportunity? Be encouraged. Be faithful. Let 
nothing cause you to grow weary of that service. The 
promise of our Master is sure. The Father will honor the 
servants of his Son. 

Whose servants are you? Are you serving self ; serving 
base passions ; serving sin ; serving Satan? Remember that 
the wages of sin is death, but that the gift of God is eternal 
life. Choose you, this day, whom you will serve. Christ 
calls you to his service, and through service to rest and 
glory. ' ' Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy 
laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and 
learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall 
find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my bur- 
den is light. ' ' 



HERE AND HEREAFTER. 

Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man 
soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall 
of the flesh reap corruption; l3Ut he that soweth to the spirit shall 
of the spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well 
doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Gal. 
vi: 7-9. 

The light of revelation falls on both sides of Jor- 
dan. For it reveals not only the land which lies beyond 
but interprets the present ; and the present is interpreted, in 
great degree, through its revelation of the future. Recently 
unusual interest has been manifested in the nature of the 
connection between this life and that which is beyond the 
grave. It is not my purpose to engage in the present dis- 
cussion, yet it seems to me an opportune time to study the 
main question involved. 

It cannot be denied that the Scriptures uniformly teach 
that there is some connection between the present and the 
future — that the destiny of each individual is determined, 
in part at least, by his own conduct — that what each one is 
here indicates, if it does not absolutely decide, what he shall 
be hereafter. Descriptions of the general judgment imply 
this ; Christ's parables of final reckoning rests upon it. All 
the motives for right living here, drawn from the great here- 
after, find their appropriateness and force in the fact that 
there is a normal connection between our daily doings and 
our destiny. 

The nature of this connection seems to me to be more 
clearly set forth in the figure of the text than elsewhere, for 

(281) 



282 HERE AtfD HEREAFTER . 

nowhere in the word of God do we find an attempt made to 
set it forth formally. m 

Let me then, as briefly as possible, present some items 
which seem to me to lie enwrapped in this figure. For the 
sake of clearness and to aid memory I will number them. 

1. The use of this figure seems to teach that the entire 
present stands to the limitless future as seedtime stands to 
harvest. This is the time for seed-casting, that the time of 
grain-gathering; this is spring-time, that an eternal harvest- 
time, we sow here, we reap hereafter. 

2. Throughout this life each one must sow. The hus- 
bandman may neglect or refuse to sow, but we cannot. 
Unless we can stop the flight of time we cannot cease to sow. 
In the hour-glass placed in our hands the sands are falling 
seeds. They ceaselessly fall. Not until the sands of life 
cease falling can we cease sowing. 

3. Amid the diversified employments of men there are 
two, and only two, kinds of sowing possible — to the flesh 
and to the spirit. Just as, according to the broad generaliza- 
tion of the Scriptures, there are two kingdoms in this world, 
and only two — the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom 
of light ; two ways through the world, and only two — the 
broad way and the narrow ; two natures in man, and only 
two — the carnal and the spiritual ; so only two kinds of 
sowing are possible — to the flesh and to the spirit. 

4. We are free to sow to either. If not, then are we to 
be held responsible for consequences while causes are placed 
beyond our reach. We are under the despotism of fate — x 
blind, cruel, heartless — and the justice of moral judgment 
is a myth. Accountability is but accounting for one' s ability, 
and if ability be denied us the ground of our accountability 
is destroyed. 

5. In our depravity it is easier to sow to the flesh than it 






HERE AND HEREAFTER. 283 

is to sow to the spirit. This is abundantly shown by the 
history of our race and our own observation. It is con- 
firmed by our own experience. It is naturally easier to do 
wrong than it is to do right; to go with the current than to 
go against it ; to go down than to ascend. 

6. Each must, unless forgiven, reap the full harvest of his 
own sowing. As to the kind of sowing vre will do there is room 
for choice, but there choice ceases. The harvest that each 
must reap grows and ripens under changeless and uni- 
versal law. As but two kinds of sowing are possible, so but 
two kinds of harvest are to be gathered. Only two sides to 
the throne of judgment, two groups before that throne, two 
sentences from the lips of the Judge, two places in the 
eternity beyond, two harvests to be gathered there! 

7. After the seed has gone from our hands it is irrecover- 
able. "Without a figure — the past is irrevocable and irre- 
versable. The past is absolutely changeless. We cannot 
obliterate it. Deeds are eternal in their nature. Whatever 
you and I have done, whether good or evil, it stands forever 
true that we have done these things. No power can annihi- 
late a fact. Sins are deeds and so, strictly and literally 
speaking, sins cannot be washed away. Divine grace may 
do that which will be practically the same, leaving us before 
the throne of justice as if we had never sinned. But it is 
true, from the nature of things, ive cannot do even this. 
Within ourselves, we are hopelessly bound by our records. 
There is no thraldom like the thraldom of evil deeds. 

8. Finally, the time of sowing will soon be over with all 
here this evening, and each must then enter upon the eternal 
harvest of his sowing. k 'Be not deceived; God is not 
mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap. 
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corrup- 



2S4 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 

tion, but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap 
life everlasting." 

These thoughts lie at the basis #f the Christian conception 
of this life. According to the divine purpose the present 
life is to find its completion in a life yet to come. There is 
to be a divine evolution. God gives the seeds, the germs, 
to be developed according to a divine plan. These pur- 
poses concerning us are to be realized in each individual. 
He who realizes the divine ideal achieves the highest destiny 
possible. A failure to realize the divine ideal works ruin. 
If one lives out of his carnal nature, and for it, the inevitable 
result is a harvest of corruption ; but if he lives out of his 
spiritual nature, and for it, he must reap life everlasting. 
These alternatives are expressed in the text by sowing to the 
flesh and sowing to the spirit. 

This revelation of the bond by which our daily life is 
bound to that eternal one enhances the value of the present 
beyond all expression. The Bible revelation of the life be- 
yond is not so given as to put this life to shame, as some are 
claiming. The glories of the future state might have been 
so revealed as to paralyze all effort and all desire in the pres- 
ent, through the intensity of desire for that future. But, 
instead of this, our future is so disclosed to us as to give 
dignity to our e very-day life. The present is vitally joined 
to the future. Whatsoever we sow we shall reap. Through 
this revelation there is given to us an inspiration to right 
living. It quickens beneficence ; it strengthens all goodness. 
It gives courage under difficulties and dangers. What I do 
and endure here decides what my harvest shall be hereafter. 

Even when we limit our thoughts to the boundaries of 
time we esteem those deeds great which in the years be} T ond 
their doing are fruitful in results. When Robert Raikes, in 



HERE AND HEREAFTER. 285 

1781, gathered neglected children from the streets of Glou- 
cester, and had them instructed on the Lord's-day perhaps 
few thought it a work of special importance. But now, 
when almost a century has passed, the Christian world looks 
back upon it as one of the events in religious history worthy 
of special celebration. Sunday-school workers are alreacty 
preparing for a grand centennial. When Luther raised a 
protest against the sale of indulgences by posting on the 
doors of the Schlosskirche at Wittenburg, the last day of 
October, 1517, his ninety-five Latin theses, I suppose it was 
generally regarded simply as a bold yet rash act of a brave 
religious fanatic. Yet out of this came the great reforma- 
tion of the sixteenth century. The event is important be- 
cause of its effect on religious liberty and civilization. So 
in science, in politics, in art, in society, everywhere, we es- 
teem those events great which project themselves into the 
future. 

What, then, can give more importance to the events of an 
ordinary life than the doctrine that our sowing here decides 
our reaping hereafter? Daily deeds decide destiny. The 
thoughts we think, the purposes we cherish, the words we 
speak, the things we do unite to form the harvest we must 
reap. Our lives here decide our state hereafter. Whatso- 
ever a man soweth that shall he reap, and not something else 
or different. The Christian conception of life exalts it by 
making it the seed time of eternity. 

No wonder then that with such warmth Paul exhorts us 
against deception on this point. All deception is to be 
dreaded, but as the matter increases in importance so our 
dread should increase. Should deception result in tempo- 
rary discomfort you would avoid it ; should it result in 
injury to your health you would vigilantly guard against it ; 
but should it be such as to threaten your life you would 



2#6 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 

dread it with feelings of terror. What, then, when it in- 
volves destiny? 

Whence the danger of deception concerning a matter 
which seems so manifest? 

In the first place, we are in danger through our natural un- 
willingness to believe this truth. As we look back over our 
lives we find them very unworthy and sinful. We shrink 
back from the thought of reaping the normal results of all 
this. We prefer to think that however we may live here it 
will, after all, be well with us hereafter. 

The will exerts a wonderful influence over our belief. We 
find it easy to believe that which is pleasant to our feelings, but 
difficult to receive as true that which is painful. When we 
are convinced of the truth set forth in the text we are con- 
vinced against our will. I know the theory of faith is this : 
A proposition is submitted and evidence is presented in its 
support. When this evidence is examined and found to sus- 
tain the proposition the 'proposition is embraced as true. 
This is the theory, and as a theory it does very well, but as a 
matter of fact it is not a representation of the ground of 
popular faith. Popular faith is largely shaped by the bent 
of the popular will. The masses choose their faith through 
their feelings. There are many in our churches who have 
little better ground for much that forms the substance of their 
faith than the fact their affections were in some way won to 
the church with which they are identified. 

Another cause of deception concerning the truth set forth 
in the text is the fact that so long a time elapses between the 
sowing and the reaping. A man who starts in the world to 
live # a moral, upright life, dealing honestry, judging charit- 
ably, keeping pure in character, seems to fail in almost every 
undertaking. Another starting at the same time, careless in 
regard to morals, devoid of honorable principle and unjust 



HERE AND HEREAFTER. 287 

in his dealings, seems to meet with success in all his undertak- 
ings. Such cases are about us, and they lead us to question 
whether sowing decides the reaping or whether, after all, it 
is not a matter of chance. The wicked flourish ; the right- 
eous seem afflicted. Sin is exalted, goodness is cast down. 

To this difficulty I answer : First, temporal prosperity is 
not the normal reward of moral goodness. Whatsoever a 
man soweththat shall he reap, and not something else in kind. 
Secondly, this is not the time for the full harvest. This is 
sowing time ; the time for reaping is j^et to come. And, 
third, if this life is a probation the full reward of our do- 
ings must be postponed to a state beyond this. Were re- 
wards to follow close-linked to the things we do, probation 
would be entirely out the question. If I thrust my hand 
into the fire, or cast myself from a precipice the suffering 
follows without delay. Not so the consequences of sin. 
They are mercifully rolled back to allow us opportunity to 
reform. This life is a probation, and this is an essential 
feature of the probation. 

Still another danger of deception is found in the conclu- 
sions we deduce from imperfect and one-sided views of the 
divine character. God is many-sided. If we stand over 
on one side of the divine character and look upon what is 
there manifest, and fail to make note of other features, our 
conception of that character must be imperfect. For in- 
stance, we stand here and looking, say "God is mercy, 
goodness, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and all the gen- 
tler virtues. This is God." And then from these alone 
we reason to the conclusion that he cannot allow any to 
perish, and that he is too merciful to allow any to suffer. 
Were we to reason in this way we would but follow a way 
already popular. Why blind our eyes to the fact that 
justice and judgment are elements in that character? For 



288 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 

he is sternly, inflexibly just. Judgment belongeth to him. 
He cannot look upon sin with allowance. Let us not suf- 
fer ourselves to be deceived by reasoning from imperfect 
premises. 

The last source of deception I shall mention is the dec- 
clarations of false teachers. The masses follow guides. A 
few do the thinking for the many. A bold denial of any 
truth has as much influence with many as a demonstration 
can have. When, therefore, men teach the ultimate happiness 
and glor}^ of all regardless of their lives here (and so prac- 
tically deny the truth of the text) their teaching is received 
as true. Or, even where intimations are made that destiny 
is not decided when this life closes, these intimations are re- 
ceived with delight. Not that God has authorized such inti- 
mations or given to these teachers a new message ; not that 
they bring to light teachings of the Bible which have escaped 
the notice of others. No, no. The teaching is theirs, but 
owing to their position as religious guides it is received as of 
God. Beecher's "Background of Mystery" and Canon 
Farrar's "Eternal Hope" seems to me to belong to this 
class. Others are bolder, even affirming ultimate salvation 
for all, regardless of life and character. 

But, whatever the source of deception may be — whecher 
from unwillingness to believe a truth so unwelcome, or from 
the long delay between sowing and reaping, or from conclu- 
sions drawn from imperfect conceptions of the. divine char- 
acter, or from declarations of religious teachers — whatever 
may be the things which tend to deceive us ooncerning a 
matter so important, over against them all I place the apos- 
tolic exhortation, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; 
for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap." 

This principle I believe as firmly when applied to morals 
as I believe it when applied to sowing and reaping in the lit- 



HERE AND HEREAFTER. 289 

eral sense. I believe we must sow, and that we must reap, 
and that the harvest we must reap will in each case be de- 
termined by the character of our sowing. I desire to pre- 
sent some reasons for this belief. 

Were you to close the Bible you have not shut out all evi- 
dence for such a faith. Nature demonstrates it. 

If you give me an arc of a circle I can from that describe 
the entire circle. This is mathematics. There is a circle 
which embraces the universe. There is a circle of law. 
All things are under law, from the atom to the planets, 
from the insect of a day to the angels of God. The univer- 
sal reign of law is a well established fact. Whatever is 
essentially true of law here is true of law everywhere. A 
treatise on the law of light, if true here must be true con- 
cerning light on the planet Mars. Now one essential feature 
of law is that its violation brings its penalty. A law with- 
out penalty is practically no law. If it be an essential fea- 
ture of law that its violation brings penalty then it is true 
everywhere. We know it is true here. This is an arc in the 
circle of law. I sweep the circle and find it must be true 
hereafter. This is of the nature of a demonstration. 

Our own observation and experience teach us the same. 
Kemember, we see no results in their fullness here. The 
harvest is growing. But, just as I can walk through fields 
before the grain has developed, and say " this is wheat," or 
" this is barley," or " this is oats," even though the grain 
has not made its appearance, so can we, before the lime of 
the eternal harvest, tell what that harvest will be. As we look 
at the moral aspects of our race we see that vice and sins 
and all forms of moral evil tend toward degradation, and 
that goodness and righteousness and all virtues tend toward 
elevation. Extend these lines infinitely- and we have infinite 
degradation on one hand and infinite elevation on the other. 

19 



290 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 

Open the Bible and we find this truth confirmed, beyond 
all question, by numerous and plain declarations. Character 
tends toward permanency. When we pass beyond the limits 
of this life he that is unholy must be unholy still and he 
that is righteous must be righteous still. We must reap as 
we have sown. 

A truth so important as this, lying at the basis of life, has 
many practical lessons. I close by pointing out a few. 

First, in planning life, look far ahead. Every life should 
have its plan. It is unworthy of us to live, day by day, the 
the sport of circumstances. Nor should we live simply for 
to-morrow or the near-lying future. The ultimate aim of our 
lives should be found in the far distant future. In selecting 
our associates, in choosing our profession, in adopting any 
course of life we should never fail to ask, what effect will 
this have upon our destiny? 

Again, it brings encouragement to those who feel they are 
living right at a losing rate. This is the application Paul 
makes of the text: " Let us not grow weary in well doing ; 
for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." All sowing 
seems to be a loss of labor, time, and seed. The farmer who 
takes the grain and with liberal hand casts it over the field 
seems to have lost it. Only one thought can induce him to 
do this, and that is he shall reap by and by. You have been 
striving to live right ; to do good. It may be you are grow- 
ing weary and discouraged. Think of the harvest, of the 
certainty of reaping, and renew your courage. 

And, finally, you who have been living only for this world, 
sowing to the flesh, can you look to the coming harvest with 
any feeling of joy or even of satisfaction ? ' ' He that soweth 
to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." Are you 
willing to reap such a harvest? If not, there is only one 
alternative. Through the sufferings and sacrifice of Christ, 



HERE AND HEREAFTER. 291 

God has provided forgiveness. Wonderful provision of still 
more wonderful grace ! ' l For he hath made him to be sin 
for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be made the right- 
eousness of God in him." "The blood of Jesus Christ 
his Son cleanseth us from all sin." ""There is therefore 
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." 
Only in him can we find pardon, peace and salvation. 



IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others stand- 
ing idle, and saith unto them, " Why stand ye here all the day idle? " 
Mat. xx : 6. 

In reading this parable of the laborers in the vineyard have 
you never observed how strikingly Christ brings out the 
Master's great desire to secure laborers? First, he pictures 
him as going early in the morning to hire them. That looks 
as if he were very much in earnest about it. Then as going 
out frequently, at short intervals, during. the day, — early in 
the morning, first; then, at the third hour; then again, at 
at the sixth hour ; still, again, at the ninth hour ; and, finally 
at the eleventh hour. That looks as if he felt he must have a 
good supply. This earnest desire is shown, still further, by 
the fact that he continued these efforts until near the close 
of the day ; for, when he went at the eleventh hour, only one 
hour of the day remained, And, finally, the urgency of the 
demand for laborers is shown by the fact that, in each case, 
as soon as he employed them he sent them into the vineyard 
to work. He did not engage them to go the first of the next 
week, or to begin next morning, but at once, "go ye into 
my vineyard.'' If the " householder," in this parable, is de- 
signed to represent Christ, our Master — as undoubtly he 
is — then we are to learn from it something of Christ's great 
desire to secure laborers for his vineyard. 

I ask your attention also to the very reasonable excuse 

these men in the market-place offered when he said : " Why 

stand ye here all the day idle?" They promptly replied: 

" Because no man hath hired us." They seem to have been 

(292) 



IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 293 

in search of employment. Thej 7 were in the right place to 
find it ; for the market-places then were different from what 
they are now. They were places of general resort. All 
classes could be found there, so that it became the best place 
for those to go who desired to secure employment. A recent 
traveller in the East remarks having noticed, every morning 
before the sun was up, that a numerous body of peasants 
were collected at the market-place with spades in hand, wait- 
itg to be hired for the day to work in the surrounding fields. 
He speaks also of passing the same place late in the day, 
and seeing some still standing there idle. They had failed 
to find employment. No man had hired them. It was the 
place whither those who desired to find laborers would go, ' 
as is shown by the conduct of the householder, mentioned in 
this parable. The excuse — no man hath hired us — was, 
therefore, a very reasonable one, when given by those who 
stood in the market-place. 

Had the master gone to his vineyard, after sending these 
men there, he would have found many of them still idle ; or 
else that vineyard was very different, in this, from the spir- 
itual vineyard which it is supposed to represent. For in 
the spiritual vineyard there are often more idlers than 
workers. There is a very small percentage of active Chris- 
tian workers in the world. In almost every church the labor 
is performed by a select few. The many do nothing. They 
are idlers. Nor can they say they stand all the day idle 
"because no man hath hired" them. They have been en- 
gaged to work, and they were sent into the vineyard for just 
that purpose. 

And this fact, that our churches have so many idlers in 
them, is a more serious matter than you may be disposed to 
think at first. The work is suffering, the fruit is wasting, 
the idlers become demoralized, others are discouraged, and 



294 IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 

sacred obligation is ignored. I desire, therefore, to speak 
to you very candidly about this matter. Many in this church 
are doing nothing. Why is it? Why stand ye here all the 
day idle? I desire to interview you. * I do not come in the 
spirit of complaint or censure, but I come with a feeling of 
brotherly interest — of deep, loving concern. I desire to 
deal fairly and candidly with you ; to frankly hear and meet 
your excuses. If there are difficulties in your way I trust I 
may aid in removing them. I desire to enlist your services 
for our common Lord. You have entered his vineyard — 
you have been in it, it may be for many years, 3'et you are 
doing nothing. I come to you with the question " Wlrv 
stand ye here idle all the day ? ' ' Will you please give some 
reason. 

" Well, I didn't know I was expected to work," you say. 
' ' Many were in the vineyard when I entered, who were doing 
nothing, I had noticed that in every church there were two 
classes — workers and idlers — and it seemed to be wholly a 
matter of taste and personal inclination as to which class any 
one would join. Besides, when I was invited to enter, if the 
matter of working was mentioned at all it certainly was not 
made prominent. To be candid, I came in because I thought 
there was danger outside, and also because I thought I would 
receive more attention within. ' ' 

That is candid. Not many will state the reason which in- 
duced them to enter the church as plainly and frankly as you 
have. No doubt many are in the church because they 
thought they would receive more attention within its fel- 
lowship. They have come in to be helped. Others are in 
because it seemed to be the only place of safety. They did 
not think as they entered that they became the servants of 
Christ. 

Let me, therefore, say to you plainly that the call author- 



IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 295 

ized by Christ is a call to loork. If those who induced you 
to enter the vineyard did not make this prominent they failed 
to do their duty as his messengers. No one has any right to 
extend a call that has not in it this feature. From first to 
last it is, "Go into my vineyard and work." You have 
entered ; but if you are not willing to work you are in the 
wrong place. Our Master does not send men into his vine- 
yard to idle. If you are unwilling to work, if you cannot 
be induced to do something for the Master then get out. 
The church will be better by your leaving. But if you are 
willing to give yourself in practical service to Christ, then 
quickly find something you can do, and do it. No time to be 
lost. Lay hold upon that which is nearest to you and do it 
so faithfully that the Master will open before you fields of 
larger usefulness. 

Another says, "I see nothing to do. I have looked 
around — I offered to teach in the Sunday school, but every 
class seemed to be supplied ; I once thought of preaching,' 
but there seems to be more preachers now than are properly 
supported. I see no opening." 

Don't wait for an opening. Don't be discouraged if you 
do not at once, and without anxiety or search, find a place. 
Those who succeed in any calling in life are not the ones who 
wait for openings. If you do not see an opening go to work 
and make one. With so much to be done, with fields white 
already to the harvest, and with laborers few, it seems 
strange there is nothing for you to do. Study this field, 
then study yourself, and among the many things to be done 
select some which you can do. But, if you are not qualified, 
go to work and qualify yourself. In what other field can 
men and women work successfully without thought and 
training ? Why then should you suppose that you can suc- 
ceed in serving Christ in good works without thoughtful 



296 IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 

training? Skill must be acquired. Efficiency must be 
gained through repeated effort. 

Go to work. The successful business men in this city, are 
not, as a general rule, those who inherited fortunes. They be- 
gan as poor young men. They did not wait for some easy 
place, some flattering opening. They took hold upon some 
work and by fidelity, b}^ diligence, by perseverance, they rose 
to their present position. God does not call idlers to great 
fields. Elisha, Saul, David, Peter, James, John, Matthew, 
and many, many others whom he called to great works, were 
already busy in the fields where they were. 

A loving heart will greatly aid you in finding your place. 
I remember the case of a girl who was reared in a family 
wealthy and worldly. She was sent away from home to a 
boarding-school, and there met with some who were 
thoroughly Christian in heart and life — they became her 
companions. Gradually she was won from worldliness to 
Christ. She gave her heart to him and consecrated her life 
to his service. After her graduation she returned to her 
home, and although her parents did not approve of what she 
had done, they supposed that her case would be like that of 
many others — that her religion would end in simple profes- 
sion. But she had lovingly consecrated her life to the ser- 
vice of Christ, and she could not be content until she found 
something to do. The first Sunda}^ after she returned home 
she went to the Sunday School and asked if she could be of 
any service there. She was informed that all places were 
filled. She felt she must have some one to whom she could 
impart a knowledge of the way of life and salvation. So the 
next day she went upon the street, and this question was in 
her mind all the time — what can I do ? By and by a rude 
boy of the street came near running against her and she 
stopped him and began talking with him. With much per- 



IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 297 

suasion she secured a promise that he would come to the 
Sunday school on the following Lord's day. This encour- 
aged her, and so she continued her efforts in that direction 
until a large class had been gathered of the neglected and 
abandoned boys of the street. What more Christlike ! Yet 
the good she did them was not the only fruit borne of this 
spirit of consecration. The entire school took on new life. 
Other classes grew, and eternity alone can reveal the full 
harvest of that persistent effort of love. 

Many of us are blind to our opportunities, because our 
hearts are too cold. 

Another is asked, ' ■ Why stand you here all the day idle? " 
and the answer is, "lam tired and discouraged. I have been 
at work, and found real joy in it while it prospered. But 
now it seems at a stand still. I see no fruits — no prospect 
of success, and so I am discouraged." 

But, what is that to you ? You are only a servant. The 
question of fruitage belongs to the Master. In the day of 
reckoning he will not say, " Well, done good and success- 
ful servant," but "Well done good and faithful servant," 
If you are only faithful, if you really do the best your cir- 
cumstances allow, you may leave results with the Master. I 
know it is natural, and I believe it right for us to feel deep 
solicitude for the success of the work in which we are en- 
gaged ; but I am sure it is wrong for us to cease to serve 
Christ simply because our work does not seem to prosper. 

It was to meet just such a tendency as this that Paul wrote, 
' ' Let us not be weary in well doing ; for in due season we 
shall reap, if we faint not. ' ' Those who sow seem to be 
losing their grain and wasting their time. They must pa- 
tiently wait to see the results of their labors. You may be 
mistaken, my brother, as to actual results of your efforts. 
Remember that time only can fully show what you have 



298 IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 

done. Right living cannot be barren of results, and many 
deeds which have seemed to us to be wholly lost we may 
some day find have been hidden away in another's heart and 
working out good in another's life. 

"I shot an arrow into the air, 
It fell to earth, I knew not where ; 
For, so swift it flew, the sight 
Could not follow it in its flight. 

I breathed a song into the air, 
It fell on earth I knew not where ; 
For who has sight so keen and strong, 
That it can follow the flight of song? 

Long, long afterward in an oak, 
I found the arrow, still unbroke : 
And the song, from beginning to end, 
I found again in the heart of a friend." 

Dr. Juclson labored diligently for six years in Burmah be- 
fore he baptized a convert. At the end of three years, he 
was asked what evidence he had. of ultimate success. He 
replied, "As much as there is a God who will fulfil all his 
promises," Hundreds of churches and thousands of con- 
verts already answer his faith. In Western Africa, it was 
fourteen years before one convert was received into the 
church ; in East Africa, ten ; in New Zealand it was nine years 
before there was one baptism, two more before the second. 
Yet it is a remarkable fact that where the faith of the church 
has been peculiarly tried by these discouragements, the suc- 
cess has been most rich and abundant afterward. Let us 
not be discouraged because we cannot both sow and reap in 
the same season. Let us not grow weary of well doing. 
Be thou faithful/ 

" Why stand ye here all the day idle? " And the answer 
comes from another group, ' ' We do not work because others 



IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 299 

will not. They will not help. A few of us kept on after 
they quit, but what is the use ? We cannot do everything. 
If others would help — if all would only take hold as they 
ought we would gladly do our best." 

Well, that is discouraging ; but you will not have to an- 
swer for them, neither will you be held to account for more 
than you can do. Every one of us must give account of 
himself to God, and all are to be judged according to the 
measure of our ability. 

Then, too, your fidelity will appear only the more conspic- 
ous in the midst of such discouragements, and it will surely 
meet with appropriate recognition. There was, at one time, 
quite a flourishing little Presbyterian church in a certain 
town in Illinois. From different causes it went down, until 
finally the Synod decided to formally disband it and sell the 
house. For this purpose they sent a committee to the place. 
In vain they searched for members, officers or trustees. At 
last some one told the committee of an old lady who had 
been a member from the beginning. They called to see her 
and stated their mission, — but she most positively refused 
to be disbanded! They insisted; she persisted. Finally 
they decided to send a preacher there. The cause was re- 
vived and the church became more flourishing than ever 
before. As the darkness of the night brings out the stars, 
so the gloom of her surroundings makes her devotion shine 
out with greater splendor. It is not much to our credit to 
be faithful and diligent in work only when everything favors 
such a life, and the tide of events bears us in that direction. 
Though others idle and even abandon the field, continue dil- 
igent, do the work faithfully which the Master has given you 
to do, and verily thou shalt be duly rewarded. 

" I'm not doing anything," answers another, "because 
when I tried, and did my best, I was rewarded by adverse 



300 IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 

criticism. Some didn't like the way in which I did my part ; 
while others said I pushed myself forward and made myself 
too prominent. So I quit." 

I beg you to remember, my brother, that you are not 
alone in being the subject of adverse criticism. Paul, the 
most eminent of Christ's servants, was in the same category. 
Christ, himself, was met at every stage of his work with ad- 
verse, even bitter, criticism. Do not expect every body to 
be pleased with your work. Be sure you have your heart in 
your work, that you are moved by proper motives, that you 
are really serving Christ and not working toward selfish ends 
and you may well ignore all these adverse criticisms. Your 
Master has said : "Woe unto you when all men shall speak 
well of you. ' ' 

But, now and then, these criticisms may be made really 
helpful. Let us not be too ready to suppose that there is no 
just ground for them. Give them candid consideration, and 
you may be able to improve by them. It is said that Mr. 
Spurgeon keeps a scrap-book in which he puts every adverse 
criticism he can find concerning himself and his work and 
uses them as correctives and as an antidote to pride. He 
says he finds them helpful. So may we. But even if we 
cannot extract counsel or help from them, let us learn not to 
chafe under them; and, above all, suffer them not to turn 
you from the service to which you have been called. We 
are exhorted by an apostle to work "not as men pleasers, but 
in singleness of heart, fearing God ; and whatsoever ye do, 
do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men ; knowing 
that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance ; 
for we serve the Lord Christ. ' ' 

A word also to you, O you carping critics. " Who art 
thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master 
he standeth or falleth." You have not been chosen to sit 



IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 301 

on the judgment seat. Your place is in the vineyard. If 
you understand better than your brother-laborer just how 
the work should be done, show your superior knowledge by 
superior work. It is, however, no mark of superior wisdom 
to be a fault-finder. It is more frequently a sign of a bad 
spirit. As a rule men and women find in this world what 
they are looking for. The vulture finds carrion, for its 
tastes lead it to seek for carrion ; but the bee finds honey, 
for its tastes lead it to seek for honey. So jou. are telling a 
bad story on yourself whenever you open your lips in evil 
speech and adverse criticism. Stop it, for your own sake ; 
stop it, for the sake of others ; stop it, for the sake of the 
cause of Christ. Stop it, and go to work, 

And you, my brother, standing off there with arms folded, 
why do you stand idle ? 

" Well, were I to speak candidly, and to give you the real 
reason, I would be compelled to say that I shrink from such 
work because I am not what I ought to be. I feel unworthy. 
I found pleasure for awhile, after entering the vineyard, in 
the work I was doing, but in an evil moment I was led astray 
and I feel covered with shame. I would go to work again, 
but' I feel that those who engage in such work should be 
of clean record. That is the only reason I am idle. ' ' 

A candid confession ; and I am sure you do not speak for 
for yourself alone, others feel just as you ; for there is a con- 
viction, almost instruction, that those who are engaged in 
the Lord's service should be of clean hands and pure hearts. 
Coupled with this feeling is often found the consciousness of 
sin. I sympathize with you, my brother. 

What should you do? Strive to reform your character. 
Humbly and penitently confess your fault, and seek forgive- 
ness. Do not allow past sins to drive you from the field. If 
you have wronged any one, strive by every means at your 



302 IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 

command to make restitution. Peter denied his Master, in 
a way and under circumstances which made his apostasy a 
very grievous one. But he did not abandon the work, nor 
forsake his Lord. He wept bitterly, and at the first opportu- 
nity gave himself to Christ more truly and humbly again. 
On the day of Pentecost he did not say, " I'll not have any- 
thing to say, for I denied my Lord. ' ' Nor did his co-laborers 
advice him to remain in the background and keep silent. 
But he came to the front and with new power and fervor 
advocated the claims of his glorious and gracious Lord. And 
in all his after life, we can see his chastened spirit, as it 
speaks in brotherly counsel and admonition to others. 

Nothing can so help to restore your spiritual health- as 
faithful labor. It will give tone to your spiritual nature and 
add strength to your character. It will be a safe -guard 
against temptation. Your idleness exposed you to the at- 
tacks of Satan. For your own sake, then as well as for the 
good of the cause of Christ, repent of your sins, confess 
them humbly before God, make restitution, and go to work. 
And may the Master abundantly bless you in your labors. 

" As for myself,'" says another, "I am not trying to do 
anything, because what I can do is so little, it is hardly worth 
doing. ' ' 

Two passages, from the lips of Christ, it seems to me, were 
spoken for the special benefit of such as you. The first, as 
an encouragement. It is the commendation which he pro- 
nounced upon the poor widow who gave into the treasury 
only two mites. But it was all she could give, for it was all 
she had. ' ' Verily, I say unto you, this poor widow has cast 
more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury. For 
all they did cast in of their abundance ; but she of her want 
did cast in all that she had, even all her living." Are not 
these words of Christ full of encouragement unto you, O ye 



IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 303 

who feel you can do but little? Our Master has regard for 
our weakness and the measure of our ability, 

The other case to which I refer furnished a solemn warn- 
ing. It is the case of the man who had only one talent and 
he ''digged in the earth and hid his lord's money." He 
could not do as much as the others, and so did nothing. 
But remember his fate when the master returned to reckon 
with his servants. While he pronounced an equal blessing 
upon the others, because they had shown themselves equal in 
fidelity, he said concerning this one, "Take, therefore, the 
talent from him * * * and cast ye the unprofitable 
servant into outer darkness ; there shall be wailing and gnash- 
ing of teeth." This is a fearful warning to us to whom our 
Lord has committed only one talent. Let us use what has 
been committed to our trust with all fidelity, although the 
results which attend our efforts may not seem so fruitful as 
others. 

I cannot, however, deal with excuses longer. This morn- 
ing it may be I have not touched upon your excuse. If you 
are not at work for Christ, why not ? Out with your reason ! 
What is it ? Are you willing to present that before Christ at 
his coming ? Have you no desire to serve him who has ran- 
somed you by his own blood? It seems to me the strongest 
desire of every believing heart would be to serve him. Con- 
scious of sin, yet rejoicing in his saving grace, prostrate at 
his feet we lie and ask, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
do?" 

I will detain you only long enough to name some reasons 
why we should at once enter upon active service. 

1. First, the field is suffering for it. The master went 
out early and often because he saw the need for laborers. 
The case was urgent. He taught his disciples to pray for 
more laborers. 



304 IDLERS INTERVIEWED. 

2. You need it for your own good. Idleness is very 
demoralizing. It may be you are not enjoying your religion, 
Work will help you. It will bring you into fellowship with 
the best Christians, and, more than that, it will bring you 
into fellowship with Christ. 

3. The master has a right to expect it of us. We are not 
our own. By every title of ownership we belong to him. 
Our time, our talents, our means, our energies, our influence 
every thing we have and are, belongs to Christ. He, there- 
fore, has a right to our service. 

4. There is coming a day of reckoning. The Master will 
return. We know not when. But when he comes will he 
find us doing that which he has left us to do ? In his parables 
he represents some as -sleeping, some drunken, some at work 
when he returns. How will he find you ? Often ask your- 
self, suppose he should come now ? Yet he sees and 

knows your conduct and your heart all the time. 

If you can do nothing more you can pray for those who 
are at work, and speak encouraging words to them. Like 
Aaron and Hur you can hold up weary hands. And even 
though you may be able to do many other things, do not fail 
to do this. Pray for more workers ; pra}- for those already 
in the field ; speak encouraging words to them. 

And now, I pray you, go forth gladly to toil. Go forth 
with the inspiration of love. Go forth with a song. Go 
forth carrying with you the thought of the divine presence. 
Go forth willing to work anywhere and at any thing that 
will glorify our Lord. ' We want no idlers here. We want 
this church to be known not as ' ' The Church of the Heavenly 
Rest," but as "The Church of Heavenly Work." What- 
ever man may think of the orthodoxy of our creed let us by 
the abundance of our good works convince them of the 
orthodoxy of your lives. And may the Lord of the harvest 
abundantly bless us in our labors. Amen. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCI- 
PLES. 

But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest; for as con- 
cerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. 
Acts xxviii: 22. 

This congregation, whose history I briefly sketched this 
morning,* stands connected with one of the most remarka- 
ble movements that has occurred since the great apostas3 r . 
The rapidity of its growth alone is enough to arrest the 
attention of every thoughtful observer. The reformation, 
which was begun in England, by the Wesleys, with such 
vivifying results more than a century ago, and which has 
made its power so felt in this land, is remarkable for the 
rapidity with which its ranks increased. But statistics will 
show that rapid as was the growth of that movement, the 
reformation which was inaugurated in this country in the 
early part of this century, has been more rapid. For 
although the famous declaration and address written by 
Thomas Campbell (then a Presbyterian minister recently 
come from Scotland), was not published until 1809, and 
although that stands as the first distinct proposal and call 
for this reformatory movement, yet we already stand in the 
front ranks in numerical strength in the United States, ac- 
cording to its latest official census returns ; and, in other 



* This sermon was preached at the Semi-Centennial Celebration 
of the Seventh Street Christian Church, Richmond, Virginia, March 
5, 1882. The morning sermon gave a history of the congregation 
from its organization by Thomas Campbell, in 1882. 

20 ( 305 ) 



306 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

lands, as England and Australia, there are to be found many 
devoted to the same plea and movement. These facts I 
mention, not in the spirikof party pride, but to indicate that 
the movement is worthy of your thoughtful attention. 

I propose to speak with the utmost candor to-night of the 
distinctive peculiarities of this brotherhood of Christians 
known to the world as the Disciples of Christ. For we have 
peculiarities. If we had none, or if those we have were not 
matters of deep conviction with us, there could be found no 
adequate apology for our existence as a separate and dis- 
tinct people. I cheerfully recognize the right of all to know 
just what these peculiarities are, and why we hold them. 
And, although these points involve matters of controversy, I 
will not speak to you in that spirit. I shun controversy. 
Especially do I shun the spirit of controversy. I am aware also 
of the natural tendency to unduly exalt, in politics, in science, 
in society, in religion, in everything where men think and 
differ, those points over which they differ and around which 
controversy has raged. With us all our peculiarities are our 
pets. Knowing this weakness of human nature, I stand on 
guard against it. Before taking up the special points to be 
considered to-night, I desire most cheerfully and emphati- 
cally to recognize a fact too often forgotten when speaking 
of religious differences ; the fact that in many things — yea 
in most things — yea, more, in the "best things of our com- 
mon faith and holy religion — all professing Christians are 
in substantial agreement. 

Were you to ask of me one word which would most exactly 
present the central purpose of the peculiar plea presented by 
the Disciples, I would give you the deeply significant and 
and comprehensive word restoration. For it was their 
purpose, as they declared in the beginning, and as, with- 
out variation the}' have continued to declare to the present, 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 307 

to restore to the world in faith, in spirit, and in practice, the 
religion of Christ and his apostles, as found on the pages of 
the New Testament Scriptures. The originators of this 
movement did not propose to themselves as their distinct 
work the reformation of any existing religious body, or the 
recasting of any existing religious creed. They proposed to 
themselves, and to all who might choose to associate them- 
selves with them in this work, a task no less than restoration. 
They clearly saw, and from the beginning distinctly recog- 
nized, that in order to do this, they must ignore and pass back 
back be} T ond all ecclesiastical councils, with their creeds and 
confessions, their speculations and controversies, since the 
days of the apostles, and take up the work just as these in- 
spired men left it. In the study of any movement it is of 
great importance to understand its purpose ; and this I pre- 
sent as the purpose of the movement whose peculiarities we 
are to consider to-night. Our aim is certainly right, and 
the work proposed is needed. Whatever peculiarities we have 
arise from an honest effort to realize that aim. We may 
have erred in. some of the details. The Bible alone must 
decide that. I do not stand here to claim that we have 
practically, and in all its details, accomplished the end pro- 
posed. We are only working toward it. 

With these preliminaries, I now proceed to a more detailed 
statement of distinctive peculiarities, asking for them only a 
candid consideration in the light of the New Testament 
Scriptures. 

I. We are peculiar in our plea for Christian union. 

Open your New Testament and your will find that the 
church there is a unit. One flock, one body, one spiritual 
temple, one household, are some of the figures under which 
we therein find it presented. It was of one mind, and of one 
heart. But if we look abroad over the Christian world, do 



308 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

we find this true to-day? Leaving out of view for the pres- 
ent, the larger factions into which it is divided — the Greek, 
the Papal, and the Protestant — and fixing our eyes upon 
the last named only, what do we behold? A house divided 
against itself; a kingdom made weak by internal discord 
and division. Turning again to the book, we hear the 
Savior, in the very shadow of the cross, prajing for all who 
may believe on him, through the apostolic word, that they 
be one ; we find all divisions deeply deplored ; schismatics 
are sharply censured ; not even a Paul, an Apollos, or a 
Cephas, allowed to be the leader of a party ; and sectism 
branded as a sin so great as to prevent the world's believing 
in the divine mission of our Savior. Others may say divi- 
sion is unwise, but in the light of this we say it is sinful. 
And whatever apologies may be made for the present di- 
vided state of the religious world, it must be evident to even- 
one that the restoration for which we ple,ad cannot be com- 
plete until it can be said- again, as Paul said in his day, 
' ' There is one body, and one spirit, even as 3 r e are called in 
one hope of 3^0111* calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
one God and father of all,. who is above all, %nd through all, 
and in you all."* 

As we study the historic development of this movement, 
we find its protest against divisions, and its plea for Chris- 
tian union was its first strongly marked feature. The dec- 
laration and address of 1809 was an arraignment of sectism, 
depicting its evil consequences and its sinful nature, and an 
earnest call upon ministers and churches to labor for the 
union of Christians as they were united in the beginning. 
"After considering the divisions in various lights," says Dr. 



Ephesiaus, iv : 4— 0. 






THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF -THE DISCIPLES. 309 

Richardson, in his Memoirs of A. Campbell,! " as hindering 
the dispensation of the Lord's Supper; spiritual intercourse 
among Christians ; ministerial labors, and the effective exer- 
cise of church discipline, as well as tending to promote infi- 
delity, an appeal is made to gospel ministers to become 
leaders in the endeavor to remedy these evils ; and especially 
is this urged upon those in the United States, as a country 
happily exempted from the baneful influence of a civil estab- 
lishment of any particular form of Christianity, and from 
under the influence of an anti- Christian hierarchy." This 
movement did not arise from controversy about any particu- 
lar views of baptism, spiritual influence, or kindred ques- 
tions mooted at a later date, in the progress of the work. 
Let this statement be considered emphatic, since the popular 
idea seems to be that out of such controversy we arose, and 
that our plea finds its roots in these questions. The central 
aim was restoration; the first feature sought to be restored ivas 
the union of Christians as in the beginning. 

During the past fifty years a great change has come over 
the churches and their pulpits on this question of union. 
Then it was seldom advocated, and was exceedingly unpopu- 
lar. Now it is one of the most popular of pulpit 
themes. The change that has taken place has greatty 
toned down our appearance of peculiarity on this one 
point. Others now advocate union. Man}-, recognizing the 
force of increasing popular feeling against divisions, are 
striving to show that in the midst of all strife, or rather un- 
derlying all existing divisions, there exists an essential 
unity. These different religious bodies, they tell us, are 
only so many divisions of one gr&nd army. Here is the 
light infantry, here the heavy artillery, here the cavalry, 



t Memoirs of A. Campbell, Vol. I., p. 253. 






310 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OP THE DISCIPLES. 

here the navy ; but all are fighting under one commander, 
and follow one flag. Now, most cheerfully conceding all 
the unity in doctrine, and in spirit, and in practice, which 
exists among these hundreds of separate bodies, let us pause 
to inquire whether the parts of this beautiful figure actually 
set forth the facts in the case. In the grand army the 
proper authority has so ordered the division of it, and given 
not only the sanction of authority to such division, but also 
defines the duties of each. The right of each division to be 
what it is, and to do what it does, can be and must be traced 
up to the head of the entire army. The law that constitutes 
it an army at all, constitutes it just the army it is. Can 
this essential point be claimed by the denominations of 
Christianity to-day? Where has the Great Head of the 
Church authorized such a division of his body, and in what 
place do we find him defining the the duties of each ? Or again, 
does the mutual support and helpfulness which exists among 
the armed forces of a nation, find any parallel among these de- 
nominational divisions of the church ? The cavalry, the infan- 
try, the artillery, the navy exist as separate parts of the force, 
that it may render more effective service by the support each 
may render to the others. But, when we speak in harmony 
wilh the facts concerning the church, we are compelled to con- 
fess with grief and shame, that, instead of mutual support, 
much of its strength is worse than wasted in fratricidal strife. 
Rivalry, contention, excommunication, and anathema, tell 
the sad story. The figure may be beautiful and rhetorical, 
but it lacks the important feature of fidelity to facts. I have 
heard it said again, that it is better for the church to stand 
like the frowning cliffs of the riven rock than to lie like the 
dead sand of indifference on the barren beach. But, must 
we confess that our choice is limited to these two conditions ? 
Has it come to pass that the church can live only b}^ rending 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 311 

strife, or lie down in indifference, indolence and death? This 
is a poor apology for division ; that a delusive presentation 
of a hidden union. These voices are but the dying echoes 
of the opposition to union which were heard all over the 
land years ago. 

The fact is, the idea of union is becoming more popular 
as the years pass by. Yet while this is true, the plea for 
union, which the Disciples present, is still peculiar. They 
oppose division not simply as unwise and impolitic, but as 
positively sinful, and to be repented of and forsaken as any 
other sin. They plead not simply for an underlying and 
hidden unity, but for an open and manifest union, such a 
unity and union that the world may see it and believe, con- 
cerning Christ, that God sent him into the world.* They 
do not call f<fr a confederation of sects, but labor for the 
total abolition of sectism. On this point we desire to see 
produced what is advocated in apostolic teaching. There 
should be no divisions among us.f This first point is our 
first peculiarity, historically considered, and is, logically con- 
sidered, the prominent feature of our plea. 

II. We are peculiar in reference to human names for the 
children of Go<% and the body of Christ. 

We reject all human names Our reasons for opposing 
human names are such as these : — 

1. Because the}^ perpetuate party spirit. It is frequently 
asked, "What's in a name?" I answer, There is in 
every name what its surroundings and attendant events 
have put into that name. A time was when there was nothing 
in the name Napoleon, but the daring and sanguinary life he 
lived who wore that name, the victories that crowned his 
military exploits, as kings became uncrowned and nations 



* John xvii: 21. f I- Cor. i:10. 



312 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

cowered at his feet, has made that name to signifiy military 
genius ; nothing in the name Howard, until John Howard, 
released, from prison in France, and made high sheriff of 
Bedford, entered upon his work of prison reforms, and con- 
tinued to prosecute this work of humanity and benevolence, 
spending more than thirty thousand pounds from his own 
purse, and traveling over fifty thousand miles through fatigue 
and danger, made that name the synonym of unselfish benevo- 
lence ; nothing in the name Washington, until by fortitude 
and bravery, born of devotion to his country, in just cause, 
our own countrymen made it mean to all the world Christian 
patriotism. So it is in reference to party names. There is 
in them what attendant circumstances and events have 
placed there. They all have been born of strife and christ- 
tened with wormwood and gall. The church divides. Party 
spirit runs high and becomes regnant. A new name is 
chosen for a new party, and party spirit lies embalmed in 
that name. 

It is almost impossible to adequately describe the hidden 
potency of these names ; they have a sway over human na- 
ture which we are slow to acknowledge. Let any one enter 
a church that wears a different name, and announce him- 
self by his denominational name, and if recognition be 
accorded him it will be formal rather than fraternal. There 
are pulpits from which I am practically excluded, but into 
which I would be cordially invited with the very message I 
now deliver, if only I would assume their party name. There 
are churches from whose communion table I am excluded, 
but to which I would receive a fraternal welcome should I 
simply assume their denominational name. These are facts. 
I give them as samples of many more. They show some- 
thing of what there is in a name, and how party names per- 
petuate party spirit. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OP THE DISCIPLES. 313 

2. We reject them simply because it is impossible to 
find a human name which all Christians would consent lo 
wear. That is, you cannot unite all the children of God un- 
der an existing denominational name. Take the most hon- 
ored of these names — names worn by some of the most 
saintly of earth — as Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, 
Episcopal, Lutheran — names like these, and can you sup- 
pose for one moment, that all Christians could be induced to 
unite under any one of them ? Moreover, would it be right 
if they could ? Yet union is right, and division is sinful. If 
we labor for restoration, we must labor for union ; if we 
labor wisely for union, we must, so far as name is concerned 
take only that which all can consent to wear without wound- 
ing of conscience ; if we take only that which all can con- 
sent to wear without wounding of conscience, we must take 
onty what inspiration sanctions ; if we take only that which 
inspiration sanctions, we must reject all human names for 
the children of God and of the body of Christ. 

3. We reject them because we hold it quite enough to 
be simply a Christian. But if we are only a Christian, why 
do you need more than that name to tell what you are? 
If you are a Christian, and something besides, then whatever 
that is you are besides, for that you need some name be- 
sides. If you aim to be a modern modified Christian, rather 
than such as were made under inspired teaching, you should 
have some name to fitly set forth that fact to the world. 
But, if you aim to be simply a Christian, then you need no 
other title than some one found in the book to set forth that 
fact. We hold it is quite enough to be simply a Christian. 
We use all revealed truth, all ordinances, all means of grace 
to make men such, and to develop them in Christian charac- 
ter. We do not desire them to be other than this, and we 
reject all human names. 



314 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OE THE DISCIPLES. 

4. We reject them as dishonoring to Christ. His is 
the worthy name by which they they were called in the be- 
ginning. * For him the whole family in heaven and in earth 
is named, t To us he is all in all. He has washed us in his 
blood, and we have been espoused J to him. The church is 
his bride, the Lamb's wife.§ Christ is called the bride- 
groom. || The wife should wear the name of her husband, 
and it would be held by the world as dishonoring him, should 
she wear the name of one of his servants, however faithful 
that servant might be to him, or that of a friend, how de- 
voted soever his friendship may be. In the church at Cor- 
inth they were sharply rebuked for saying, " I am of Paul; 
and I of Apollos ; and I of Cephas. "If Although two of 
these were chosen apostles, and the other an eloquent man 
and mighty in the Scriptures.** "Is Christ divided? was 
Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized into the name 
of Paul?"tf are the questions with which he expresses his 
reprehension of such a course, and his amazement. Take 
the names of any in later times, eminent for their devotion 
and services, and with equal justice may these questions be 
propounded to the churches wearing their names. It is no 
reflection upon them or their worth to refuse to be called by 
their names, but to wear them is a dishonor to Christ, al- 
though not so intended. 

For this reason we have refused with an earnestness and 
persistency which are a perplexity to some, to wear the name 
of Campbell. Our refusal to be called Campbellites is 
grounded on principle. We cannot consistently consent — 
we will not consent — to wear the name of any man. To do 
so would be to sacrifice a fundamental principle. It would 



* James ii: 7. t Eph. iii: 14-15. % 2 Cor. xi: 2 

§ Rev. xxi: 9. || Mark ii: 19-20. f 1 Cor. i: 12. 

** Acts xviii: 24. ft Cor. i: 13. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 315 

be a practical abandonment of the work upon which we have 
entered. ' ' But, " it is objected, ' ' your exclusive appropria- 
tion of the name Christian implies that, in your opinion, 
there are no Christians in the world except yourselves." In 
this objection there would be force if we really aimed at an 
exclusive appropriation of this name. But this exclusiveness 
is not in our claim. We distinctly teach there are most ex- 
cellent Christians who are not enrolled with us. Were this 
not true, pray why should we plead for the union of Chris- 
tians? JFeare united, and, if we did not believe there are 
Christians in the world outside of our ranks, our plea would 
be senseless and absurd. The point in which we are peculiar 
is simply this — ive persistently reject all human names. We 
rejoice that there are so many devout Christians in the world, 
and we call upon them to abandon all party names, and be 
content to be known by those names only which we find in 
the New Testament. 

III. We are peculiar in our rejection of human creeds and 
books of discipline, for the faith and government of the 
church. 

The claim of Protestantism is, that it takes only the Bible 
as its rule of faith and practice. As has been tersely and 
strongly put, " the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but 
the Bible, is the religion of Protestants." And yet the par- 
ties into which Protestantism is divided practically nullify 
this high claim by adding creeds of their own construction. 
We reject all man-made creeds, and for such reasons as the 
following : — 

1. Because we believe the Bible alone is sufficient. We 
hold the sacred Scriptures as given of God to meet all the 
purposes of a guide to our faith, a rule for our life, and law 
for the government and discipline of the church. As Paul 
has said, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and 



316 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in- 
struction in righteousness ; that the man of God may be 
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."* What 
more can we ask than is here claimed for the Scriptures ? 
They are profitable for doctrine ; this covers the whole 
ground of truth needed to make us wise unto salvation. 
They are profitable for reproof ; that is, they are sufficient 
to silence heresy. The} T are profitable for correction ; no 
other book of discipline is needed. They are profitable for 
instruction in righteousness ; in them may be found all that we 
need for development in righteousness and personal holiness. 
This, remember, is God's own estimate of his word, and his 
description of its purposes and use. We say it is enough. 
We, hence, reject all other books of faith and discipline. 

Moreover, we claim that to prepare and issue any other 
book, as binding on the faith and practice of the children of 
God, is a very grace mistake. It not only implies that the 
Scriptures alone do not thoroughly furnish the man of God 
for the important matters specified, but the man-made creed 
is a step toward apostasy. As another has illustrated — 
"Compare this with a well known feature in the Boman 
apostasy. The Bible declares there is one mediator, between 
God and man, and that there is salvation in none other ; 
that his blood cleanseth us from sin. What, in this cardinal 
point, is the very gist of Roman apostasy? Denying Christ? 
No. Denying that he is the Mediator? No. What then? 
She adds other mediators — the virgin and the saints. This 
is recognized by all Protestants as the very essence of her 
apostasy on this point. But, men and brethren, I submit to 
you whether the case in hand be not precisely parallel. 
God declares that the man of God who sincerely re- 



* 2 Tim. iii: 16-17. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 317 

ceives and adopts the Bible, is perfect for certain spec- 
ified purposes. But the creed-makers declare that the 
man of God who sincerely receives and adopts the Bible 
and this creed is perfect for the same specified purposes." 
Rome adds mediators to the one Mediator appointed of God ; 
creed-makers add creeds to the one Book given of God. 
We reject not only the added mediators, but added creeds. 
The Bible alone is sufficient. 

2. We reject them because they make speculations and 
opinions matters of faith. Every creed has risen out of 
controversy. Its chief purpose has been to define the posi- 
tion, on these controverted points, of those who subscribe to 
it. Almost any one of the many creeds now in existence 
would serve as an illustration of this point. They are full 
of speculative, philosophical, metaphysical untaught ques- 
tions. They undertake to define exactly what we are to be- 
lieve about tne many questions which cluster around the 
doctrine of the Trinity, the fall of man, free will, divine de- 
crees, irresistible grace, miraculous regeneration, etc., etc. 
Fine-spun 3 hair-splitting distinctions are foisted into articles 
of faith. Do you ever read any of these creeds ? You will 
find what I say is the simple truth. Take the Athanasian as 
an illustration. I will read you only the first paragraph : — 

" Whoseoever will be saved, before all things it is neces- 
sary that he hold the catholic faith," (not the Roman Cath- 
olic)', "which faith except every one do keep whole and 
undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And 
the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in 
Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ; neither confounding the per- 
sons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one person 
of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy 
Ghost ; but the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost is all one ; the glory equal, the majesty 



318 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such 
is the Holy Ghost ; the Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, 
the Holy Ghost uncreate ; the Father incomprehensible, the 
Son incomprehensible, the Holy Ghost incomprehensible ; 
the Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Ghost eternal ; 
and yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal; 
as also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three 
uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. 
So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, 
and the Holy Ghost Almighty; yet they are not three 
Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the 
Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God ; yet there are not 
three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, 
the Son is Lord, and the Holy Ghost is Lord ; yet there are 
not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled 
by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by him- 
self to be God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the catho- 
lic religion to say there be three Gods, or three Lords." 

I might read more of this which is gravely set forth as 
essential to the faith that saves ; but, should I continue to 
the end, I fear you would feel so bewildered as to need a di- 
rectory to show you the way out of church. I give you this 
as a sample. Every question about which men have differed, 
every fine distinction of which schoolmen have dreamed 
and disputed, every point of controversy that has risen and 
agitated the body of Christ, has been lifted into an article 
of faith. The natural tendency of controversy is to mag- 
nify into undue proportion the points involved. But, every 
man-made creed of Christendom has either risen directly or 
iudirectly out of a religious controversy. It is, therefore, 
but the outgrowth of a natural law that they foist specula- 
tion and matters of opinion into articles of faith. 

There are other reasons which I cannot take the time to 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 319 

elaborate ; such as these : No man, no body of men, has the 
right to say what faith is essential. That prerogative be- 
longs to God only. Again, creeds of man's composition are 
useless. For if they contain more than is in the Bible, they 
contain too much ; if they contain less than is in the Bible, 
they contain too little ; if they contain only what is in the 
Bible, they are wholly useless. And, finally, time has dem- 
onstrated that instead of their being bonds of union they 
are schismatical in their tendency. We seek to avoid specu- 
lations on untaught questions. We hold that they gender 
strife. The silence of the Bible is to be respected as much 
as its revelations. " Infinite wisdom was required as much 
to determine of what men should be ignorant as what men 
should know. Indeed, since, in regard to all matters con- 
nected with the unseen spiritual world, man is dependent 
upon Divine revelation, the limits of that revelation must 
necessarily mark out also the domain of human ignorance, as 
the shores of a continent become the boundaries of a trackless 
and unfathomecl ocean." Out of this view there have arisen 
among us such maxims as these : " Where the Bible speaks, 
we will speak ; where the Bible is silent, we will be silent,'* 
and " Bible names for Bible things, and Bible thoughts in 
Bible terms." 

IV. We are somewhat peculiar in our division of the Bible, 
and the exclusive authority we ascribe to the New Testament. 

That you may understand our position on this entire 
question, I submit these points: 1. We hold and teach, as 
others, the inspiration of the entire Bible. We believe that 
in olden times ' ' Holy men of God spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Spirit." 2. We hold the New Testament only 
as a book of authority to us. " God, who at sundry times, 
and in divers manners, spake unto the fathers by the 
prophets, hath, in these last days, spoken unto us by his 



320 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

Son."* 3. We hold that the Old Testament was a book 
of authority to the Jews, but that with the establishment of 
the new covenant, of which Christ is Mediator, the old cove- 
nant closed and the authority of its book gave way to the 
authority of the Scriptures of the new covenant, f 4. We 
believe that the Old Testament is necessary for our un- 
derstanding of the New, and that it contains, for us, many 
examples of faith ^.nd godliness, ans lessons in personal holi- 
ness. In the declaration and address of 1809 may be found 
this proposition, submitted along with others, looking to- 
ward restoration and union. 

" That although the Scriptures of the Old and the New 
Testaments are inseparably connected, making, together but 
one perfect and entire revelation of the Divine will for the 
edification and salvation of the church, and, therefore, in 
that respect cannot be separated ; yet, as to what directly 
and properly belongs to their immediate object, the New 
Testament is as perfect a constitution for the worship, gov- 
ernment and discipline of the New Testament church, and as 
perfect a rule for the particular duties of its members, as the 
Old Testament was for the worship, discipline and govern- 
ment of the Old Testament church and the particular duties 
of its members." 

Very early in our movement the broad distinction between 
the law and the gospel, as held and taught by the Disciples, 
attracted attention and aroused hostility. For a while the 
Campbells were connected with the Redstone Baptist Asso- 
ciation. At the meeting of this Association in 1816, Alex- 
ander Campbell preached his famous sermon on The Law 
and the Gospel, from Romans viii: 3, which created such a 



* Heb. i: 1-2. 

f Heb. viii: 6-13; II Cor. iii: 6-11; Rom. viii: 2-3; vi: 14; Gal. 
iii: 24. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 321 

stir among the members of the Association that the Campbells 
were compelled to withdraw for the sake of peace. With us 
Christianity is not a modified form of Judaism ; the gospel is 
not an appendix to the law ; no precept of the old covenant 
as such is binding upon us. If a precept in that covenant 
is binding upon us, it is because it has been re-enacted and 
promulgated in the New. With many precepts this is 
true — they are found in both. But the authority which 
binds them upon us is found in the New. Just as many of 
our present civil laws were laws for the colonies when under 
the British crown. But these laws are now binding upon the 
American citizen, because they have been re-enacted and pro- 
mulgated in our new Constitution, and form a part of the 
American law. The old law, described as ' ' the handwriting 
of ordinances," Christ nailed to the cross.* The " ministra- 
tion of death, written and engraven in stones," and given 
to the Jews by Moses, their mediator, Paul declares has been 
done away.f We do not send sinners to Sinai now to hear 
the thunderings of that law. We do not direct them to the 
Psalms of David, or to the utterances of the Jewish proph- 
ets to find peace. The New Testament alone is our guide 
to the inquiring sinner, and our law to the believing saint. 
The gospel testimony is given to produce saving faith ; J the 
Acts of Apostles shows how men and women were made 
Christians under the preaching of inspired men ; the epistles 
give directions in practical life, for individual Christians, 
and instructions to churches as such, while the book of 
Revelation is a highly symbolic description of things which 
were shortly to come to pass. 

We are not under law, but under grace. § The law was 



* Col. ii:14. f II. Cor. iii: 7-11. X John xx: 30-31. 
§ Rom. vi:U. 

21 



322 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

for a nation only ; the gospel is for the world. The law was 
never of authority to any but a Jew, either by birth or by 
purchase. It was never given to us. It was provisional and 
preparatory. When the new covenant was given the old 
one was removed. The new found its formal beginning and 
its first authoritative announcement on the ever-memorable 
Pentecost which followed Christ's ascension. From that 
point we go forward to find the question of salvation from 
sin through the merits of his biood-answerecl. We do not 
send sinners to a dead covenant to find life. With us the 
New Testament only is a booh of authority, and we follow 
this fundamental fact to its legitimate conclusions. 

V. We are peculiar in the position ive give to the Messiah- 
ship and the divine Sonship of Jesus. 

With all who are known as evangelical, we hold that 
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah long promised by 
Jewish prophets, and that he is the only begotten 
Son of God. But with us this is not an article of 
faith, standing on a plane with others, but it is the article of 
faith in the Christian system. In the records of the work 
of apostles and evangelists we find it treated as the problem 
of the gospel. They turned all testimony to the support of 
the proposition — Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living- 
God. John recorded his wonderful words, and preserved an 
account of the miraculous signs he wrought that this might 
be demonstrated.* The belief of this is saving faith, ac- 
cording to his statement. Upon this Christ built his church, j- 
As every system centres in some fact or doctrine, as every 
organization among men must have some cornerstone in com- 
mon thought and faith, so in the system revealed in the New 
Testament and the church built by Christ and called his own. 



John, xx : 30-31. f Matt. xvi:15-18. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 323 

It was this which in the beginning men were required to be- 
lieve and to confess before they were baptized.* Properly 
speaking, this constitutes the Christian confession of faith. 
"We lift it above all other things^ it is pre-eminent above all 
other teaching. We sweep away all speculations, and place 
the fact of the Messiahship and the divine Sonship of Jesus in 
their stead, as the one thing to be believed. As the defini- 
tion of the circle in geometry embraces within itself 
every proposition afterward deduced and demonstrated 
in the further prosecution of that study, so- there lies 
enwrapped in this brief proposition all revealed truth. 
Our after-growth in knowledge is but an enlargement of our 
conception of this pregnant proposition. The emphasis we 
place upon it, the position we assign it, the use we make of 
it, constitute one of our peculiarities. 

VI. Inreference to spiritual influence in conversation, we are 
peculiar. 

To correct a popular mistake, I desire to state, with 
with all possible clearness, that we believe in the existence, 
the personality, the divinity of the Holy Spirit. We believe 
that he is the author of our conversion. We teach that he is 
the abiding comforter, and that he dwells in Christians. 
But we repudiate all theories of direct spiritual influence 
exerted, independent of the word of God, upon sinners, to 
make them Christians. Others teach the absolute need of 
the direct agencj^, and work to enable the sinner to believe, 
to repent, and to obey the commandments of God. We 
reject this, and with it all theories of human depravity which 
render it necessary. We hold that no special divine influ- 
ence, super-added to the word to energize it, is either needed 
or promised. We believe that the Word faithfully preached 



* Acts, viii: 36-38. 



324 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

produces faith, and that where it fails to do so, the fault is 
in man, in the quality and condition of the soil, not in the 
lack of energy or spiritual force in the seed. Paul says 
faith comes by hearing the -Word of God.* When Paul and 
his companions entered the synagogue in Inconium, they so 
spake the Word or the Lord that a great multitude of both 
Jews and Greeks believed, f If it be impossible for man to 
believe unless there be exerted over him some subtle influence 
to make him believe, where is there ground for any moral 
quality in faith, or any just ground of condemnation for not 
believing? Yet our Savior says, " He that believeth not 
shall be damned. "J Nor does any man need some subtle 
power, independent of that which dwells in God's Word, to 
enable him to repent and turn. God calls him to turn. 
Then he has the power. He demands repentance. Then 
man can repent. The revelation of the fearful consequences 
of sin, the marvellous goodness of God, the pathetic plead- 
ings of the cross, are to lead men to repentance and reforma- 
tion of life. He needs no magic power to enable him to bow 
down in humble, filial obedience. The call of God runs 
upon the supposition, from first to last, that man can heed 
the call and be saved. He treats man as a rational, respon- 
sible, free, moral agent. The word he sends to us is the 
word of the Spirit. He is the great revealer. He works 
on sinners, so far as we know, only through the word. 
Christ, in speaking of the coming of the spirit, says dis- 
stinctly, "Whom the world cannot receive." § We, there- 
fore, in rejecting these theories, of necessity reject the 
anxious seat, with all that belongs to the anxious seat sys- 
tem. We te'ach men that they are able to hear, to believe, 
to repent, to obey, and so, to be saved. Perhaps no point, 
of all that is peculiar to us, has given greater offence than 



* Rom. x:17. | Acts, xiv:l. \ Mark, xvi:16. § John, xiv:J7. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 325 

this. And, yet, it is a necessary result of our fundamental 
principle, and is in perfect accord with apostolic practice in 
preaching. Where do you find an apostle teaching men of 
this inability? Where do you find them inviting them to 
come forward to be prayed for, that they may be converted? 
Where do we find an inspired preacher closing a meeting 
with many seeking ? These are modern things. They spring 
from modern theories of man's necesshy. Worse still, these 
theories are often mischievous in their consequences. The 
word is the seed of the kingdom ; it converts the soul ; it 
imparts life; it is God's power to save.* We reject all 
theories which make his word a dead letter, and that teach 
sinners to expect and await some special spiritual quickening 
power apart from it. 

VII. We are peculiar in our teachings concerning the 
design of Christian baptism. 

But, perhaps, not so peculiar as many suppose. 
There seems to be an idea quite common that the one 
great and overshadowing peculiarity of the Disciples lies 
just here. I suppose I would not exaggerate were I to say 
that if the masses outside of our membership were asked to 
state the peculiarities of the Disciples, a majority would state 
that their first and chief peculiarity is concerning the design 
of baptism. Yet, in doing so, they would do us an injustice. 
For, neither in point of time, nor in degree of importance, 
is this chief. Our peculiarity concerning this ordinance is 
the out-growth and an after-development of our central 
and fundamental peculiarity, which, as already stated, is 
restoration. 

To correct a common but gross misconception, let me say, 
we do not believe in what is popularly understood by the phrase 



* Rom. i:16. 



326 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OP THE DISCIPLES. 

"baptismal regeneration. 91 We attach no mystic, magic 
virtue to the baptismal waters, or to the act of obedience in 
this ordinance. We do not teach a water salvation. So far 
from this, we teach, with a clearness and constancy, which 
it seems should have made such a mistake impossible, that 
unless this ordinance is, in each case, preceded by a heart- 
felt faith, and a genuine repentance, it is not worthy the 
name of Christian baptism. Or, as Mr. Campbell put it in 
his debate with Dr. Rice, "I have said a thousand times, 
that if a person were to be immersed twice seven times in 
the Jordan for the remission of sins, or for the reception of 
the Holy Spirit, it would avail nothing more than the wetting 
the face of a babe, unless his heart is changed by the Word 
and Spirit of God. ' ' * 

Our peculiarity is this : We teach that, according to the 
Scriptures, baptism is for the remission of sins. Or, to 
elaborate the statement, we teach that baptism is one of 
three divinely-appointed conditions upon which God promises 
to forgive an alien's sins. You will do us a favor by remem- 
bering this statement, and thinking it carefully over, item by 
item. You will see that we do not place baptism by itself. 
Faith and repentance go with it and before it. You will see 
that it is not held as a cause of forgiveness, but a condition. 
It has no essential connection with pardon, but stands related 
to it only by virtue of a divine appointment. We do not say 
God cannot forgive without it. We speak only of what is 
promised. It is not a condition upon which hangs the prom- 
ise of pardon to any but to aliens The Christian finds for- 
giveness through repentance, confession and prayer. 

Is it, then, a divinely-appointed condition which God 
promises the forgiveness of the alien's sins? This is clearly 



Campbell and Rice Debate, p. 544. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 327 

a question of fact. To the law and to the testimony for 
some of the reasons for our teaching.. I can give only a few 
passages to answer the question, Has God placed baptism be- 
fore the promise of present salvation or forgiveness ? 

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and 
preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be 
damned." Markxvi: 15-16. 

On what two things does salvation here depend ? Is bap- 
tism one of them ? 

" Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized 
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the re- 
mission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Ghost." Acts ii: 33. 

What two things did Peter command his audience to do? 
Did he command them to do these two things for remission 
of sins ? Is baptism one of the things commanded ? 

"And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, 
and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." 
Acts xxii: 16. 

What did Ananias command Paul to do? Did he com- 
mand him to wash away his sins ? In what act ? 

"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ 
have put on Christ." Gal. iii: 27. 

How does Paul here say we enter into Christ, or put on 
Christ? - Is there promise of forgiveness outside of Christ? 
I give these passages only to indicate the tendency of the 
testimony of the Scriptures, and to show something of the 
ground of our teaching on this point. 

VIII. In reference to the subjects of baptism' or the persons 
who are scripturally qualified for baptism, we are peculiar. 

For, while we are in general accord with all Baptist bodies 
in practising believer's baptism only, we differ from them in 



328 THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 

this : We do not demand tlio narration of an experience ; 
we do not require them to spend a season in seeking.; we 
do not require them to say they believe they are already for- 
given ; we do not require them to come before the church to 
be voted upon. None of these things were required in New 
Testament times, and we do not require them now. As 
then, so now, heartfelt faith in Christ, with a genuine re- 
pentance of sin, is enough. As an indication that Christ 
publicly confessed, was, and therefore still is, sufficient, we 
find that in the great commission it reads, faith first, then 
baptism ; in the cases recorded, as occurring under inspired 
preaching like Paul to the jailer,* and Philip to the eunuch, f 
it was heartfelt faith in Christ, confessed, and then baptism 
without delay, and then rejoicing. 

If it be objected that this makes access to this ordinance 
too easy by not hedging it in with sufficient restrictions, 
our answer is : first, perhaps it is not so easy as you sup- 
pose. We require a heartfelt faith and a genuine repent- 
ance. Secondly, what right have we to hedge it in by 
restriction which our Lord, who gave it, has not. seen fit to 
place around it? If it be said that the simple confession re- 
quired is not enough to keep out heretics and false teachers 
who may desire to come in, we answer it was not enough to 
do that in apostolic times, for Paul says false brethren had 
come into the Galatian churches in his time,| and yet they 
did not endeavor to prevent this by the imposition of 
more stringent conditions, but continued to practice this 
simple confession of faith. Should it be objected further, 
that hypocrites can make this confession and so come in, we 
reply, so can hypocrites give in most glowing experiences, 
or meet the requirements of the most . rigid conditions you 



Acts xvi: 30-34. f Acts viii: 35-39. % Gal. ii: 4. 



THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 329 

may see fit to impose, provided lliey are determined to de- 
ceive. Would it not be well to reflect also that in your zeal 
to keep out all these of whom you have spoken, there is 
danger of imposing conditions which would be stumbling 
stones and hindrances in the way of some honest souls whom 
the Lord would receive? I think we have kept quite as clear 
of these objectionable characters as others, aud it is certainly 
well not to be wise above what is written. 

IX. I come now to consider the last point in our peculiar- 
ities. In at least two tilings, concerning the Lord's Supper, we 
are peculiar. 

1. In its weekly observance. We teach that the Lord's 
Supper should be observed each Lord's Day. The Chris- 
tians in the beginning certainty met on the first day of 
each week. We learn that one purpose — if not the pur- 
pose of their meeting — was to break bread.* This was a 
part of their regular worship on the first day. The day 
which was set apart to commemorate the resurrection of our 
Savior, found also spread in the midst of the Disciples the 
table on which were the memorials of his sacrificial death. 
It should be so now. While in this we are not in accord 
with any religious body known to me, we are in perfect 
accord, in theory if not in practice, with such great reform- 
ers and leaders as Calvin and Wesley, and a host of others. 

2. Our position on the question of close communion 
is peculiar. We hold that the Supper is simply and only a 
memorial feast. We emphasize and exalt the memorial idea 
to the exclusion of every other which has, in the course of 
time, attached itself to this observance. " Do this in mem- 
ory of me." This is the full explanation of the divine im- 



* Acts xx : 7. 



;>:>() THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OP THE DISCIPLES. 

port of this simple and sacred observance. We eat, and 
drink, and worship as we remember our suffering Savior. 
We do not partake of the emblems to signify our indorsa- 
tion of others who may choose to partake at the same time. 
Paul says, "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat 
of that bread and drink of that cup, for he that eateth and 
drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to him- 
self."* Fix clearly in your mind the idea that it is simply 
a memorial feast, and you will be prepared to understand 
me when I say that the Disciples are neither open-com- 
munionists nor close-communionists. In this view it is no 
more reasonable to speak of open or close, in connection with 
the Lord's Supper, than it would be in connection with sing- 
ing, prayer, or the contribution. These are acts of worship 
in which Christians unite, but who thinks of raising such 
questions about them ? 

And, now, that you have listened patiently to this state- 
ment of our peculiarities, presented, I humbly trust, in none 
other than a Christian spirit, I take the liberty of asking 
you, in the same spirit, what you think of them. " Not ex- 
actly the points that current reports present," do you 
reply? Well, that may be ; but I do not think I overstep the 
bounds of modesty in claiming that what I say on these mat- 
ters is worthy of more weight with you than that which 
Madame Rumor may present. I have enjoyed the best pos- 
sible opportunities of knowing exactly what the Disciples 
believe and teach. I was born among the Disciples ; my 
venerable father is a preacher among them of nearly fifty 
years standing ; I have been brought up on their literature, 
and I attended their largest school ; I know their leading 



* I. Cor. xi: 28-29. 






THE DISTINCTIVE PECULIARITIES OF THE DISCIPLES. 331 



men throughout this entire land. I now candidly present 
this as their views upon the points involved. " Well," says 
another, "the points in which you are peculiar are neither 
so numerous, nor are they so great as I expected to hear." 
I am glad of that. I do sincerely regret that there exists 
any necessity for our being peculiar on any point. I love 
to think of those things in which we all agree, rather than 
of those in which we differ. I rejoice that the changes 
which have taken place in the religious world during the last 
half century have caused these points to*appear less peculiar 
than formerly they did. For one, I rejoice in the general 
drift of religious thought. I hope for a better day. But, 
in the meantime, could you advise us to relinquish our posi- 
tion and abandon our work? Is not our aim worthy of 
zealous endeavor ? Would it not be better for a divided re- 
ligious world to go back to the unity of the beginning, cast-, 
ing aside all creeds but the Bible and all names but Christ's? 
Is it not true that the New Testament alone is the book of 
authority for the Church of Christ and for its members ? 
Would it not be better to sweep speculations and dogmas 
away by giving to the doctrine of the Messiahship and divine 
Sonship of Jesus the place it occupied at first? Would it not 
be a gain to truth, at least, if we would attach to the ordi- 
nances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper the significance 
which their Author gave them? And, would not we come 
nearer to primitive preaching and practice if, instead of 
teaching men to look for strange, sights and sounds, and 
mysterious and inexplicable spiritual influences, we should 
exalt the word of the Lord as the faith-giving and converting 
and saving power of God? 

But, if you are not able to agree with me in these matters, 
I sincerely trust you may cheerfully and heartily agree with 



THE 



OF THE DISCIPl 



me to exercise that Christian charity which will not allow 
our differences to kindle into animosity ; that you will join 
with me in praying for the peace and prosperity of all them 
that love our Lord Jesus in sincerity ; and, that we will re- 
new our prayerful study of the sacred volume, hoping for 
the time when we may see eye to eye, and face to face. 
The Lord hasten that day. Amen. 



Christian Books 

PUBLISHED OR FOR SALE BY 

JOHN BURNS, 

Publisher and Bookseller 

717 and 719 OLIVE STREET, 
ST. LOUIS. 



.^^Send for Descriptive Catalogue of Books and Tracts. 
Discounts allowed Preachers and Students. 
Send for New Catalogue of Sunday School Supplies, Bibles, 
Testaments, Commentaries, Etc. 



Barclay, E. D.; A Band-Book on Baptism $ 50 

Baxter, William ; Life of Elder Walter Scott 2.00 

Life of Knowles Shaw 1.00 

Braden, Clark ; The Problem of Problems 2.00 

Braden and Hughey Debate, Baptism ; the Action, De- 
sign and Subjects of, and the work of the Holy 

Spirit 2.00 

Brents, Dr. T. W.; The Gospel Plan of Salvation 2.50 

Butler, Marie R.; Riverside ; or, Winning a Soul 75 

Grandma's Patience; or, Mrs. James' Christmas 

Gi f t 40 

Burnett, D. S. ; The Christian S. S. Library, 40 Volumes.12.00 
^"Send for New Catalogue of S, S. Supplies, 



2 JOHN burns' catalogue of 

Campbell, Alexander ; Popular Lectures and Addresses, 

Cloth §3.00 

Sheep, Library Style 3.75 

Half Morocco, Gilt Edges . , 5.00 

Christian System 1.50 

Christian Baptism 1.00 

Christianity, Evidences of; a Debate between 

Robert Dale Owen and Alexander Campbell 1.50 

Familiar Lectures on the Pentateuch 1.50 

Living Oracles ; Pocket Edition 50 

Living Oracles ; Large Type Edition 2.50 

Memoirs of Elder Thomas Campbell 1.25 

Roman Catholic Religion : a Debate between 
Alexander Campbell and Right Rev. John B. 

Purcell 1.50 

The Christian Baptist ; Cloth 2.50 

The Christian Baptist ; Arabesque 3.00 

Campbell, Mrs. Alexander ; The Home Life and Remi- 
niscences of Alexander Campbell, by his Wife. 

Cloth 2.00 

Half Morocco, Gilt Edges 3.00 

Carlton and Moore Debate ; The Destiny of Man 1.50 

Carpenter and Hughes Debate; The Destiny of the 

Wicked 1.50 

Christopher, Dr. H. ; Man and his Redemption ; or The 

Remedial System ; Cloth 2.00 

Sheep, Library Style 2.50 

Christopher, Fanny H. ; Duke Christopher ; A story of 

the Reformation 40 

Church Supplies. Furnished at lowest market prices 
at time of order. 
Baptismal Suits. Very best material at lowest 

price. Always give size of boot worn. 
Books of Church Letters, containing blank forms 
with stub for memorandum. The neatest 
and most convenient published. 

One Hundred Blank Forms 1 00 

Fifty Blank Forms 50 



CHURCH SUPPLIES, ETC. 3 

Church Supplies— Continued. 

Christian Church Register. With various spe- 
cial rulings and printed headings. Arrang- 
ed byR. Moffit $3.00 

Church Record. A cheap and convenient book 
in which to record the Name of Members, 
Date of Admission. Hoiu Admitted and Re- 
marks. Contains places for 960 names 1.00 

The Standard Church Register and Record with 
Register for Membership, Elders, Deacons, 
Ministers, Trustees, Clerks, Baptisms, 
Deaths and Marriages 3.50 

Church Contribution Record. With special rul- 
ings and printed headings. Designed ex- 
pressly for keeping systematic account of 

weekly contributions. Forty pages 1.00 

Eighty pages 1.50 

Contribution Envelopes. Good White Paper. 
Size, 2£x4|- inches. 

Printed, per thousand, only 2.00 

Plain, per thousand 1.25 

Contribution Pledge Cards. Five hundred 1.75 

Communion Sets. Send for special illustrated 

circular. 

HYMNALS AND HYMINI BOOKS. 

A very animated discussion has been going on in our papers over the 
Hymn Book Question. The result is that we have the cheapest and best 
books (for the money) that can be had. Now, not only are the churches 
supplied with well bound books at an extremely low price, but those who 
desire a tine binding can get it without fancy prices. 

Churches wishing to adopt new books will be furnished with sample 
copies of both the Revised Hymnal and The New Christian Hymn and 
Tune Book that both may be examined and choice made. Books not 
wanted can be returned, transportation both ways to be paid by person 
ordering. 

Examine honestly, judge righteously, and then send your order to John 
Burns for whatever book you may want, and "make a joyful noise unto 
the God of our Salvation." 

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be 
blameless and harmless, the sons of God." 



4 JOHN burns' catalogue of 

THE NfeW CHRISTIAN HYMN AND TUNE BOOK. 

Compiled by Prof. James H. Fillmore, assisted by L. II. Jameson, 
J. H. Rosecrans, J. P. Powell, J. R. Murray, E. S. Lorenz, T C. O'Kane 
and Fred Fillmore. 

The book is divided into two parts. Part I, containing the old standard 
hymns and tunes. Part II contains the popular hymns of the Gospel 
songs variety, and is specially adapted for use in Prayer Meetings, Sunday 
Schools and Protracted Meetings. The book is full of sacred songs 
selected from the vast treasure-house of Christian psalmody. It is meet- 
ing with hearty approval of many who desire pure, fervent congregational 
worship. It is having a very extensive sale. 

WORD AND TUNE EDITION. 

Bound in cloth, red edges, sewed on tape, single copy 

by mail . . $ 60 

Per dozen, by express 6.00 

" " " mail. 7.20 

Plain Cloth, flexible binding, same price as above. 

Sheep embossed 75 

French Morocco, red edges — 1.00 

French Morocco, flexible 1.00 

Morocco Gilt 1.40 

Turkey Morocco, Extra Gilt 3.00 

Circuit Morocco 5.00 

CHEAP EDITION 

Bound in boards (wire stitched,) single copy, by mail.. . 35 

Per dozen, by express 3.60 

" mail 4.20 

WORDS ONLY EDITION. 

Bound in boards, single copy by mail 25 

Per dozen, by express . . 2.40 

" mail 3.00 

Bound in cloth, single copy by mail 35 

Per dozen, by express 3.60 

" '" " mail 4.20 

WORDS ONLY (Large Print). 

Bound in Sheep ; Single copy post-paid 1.00 

Per dozen (sent at cost of buyer) 9.00 






CHURCH SUPPLIES, ETC. 5 

TEACHER'S WORD AND TUNE EDITION. 

A matter of first importance to the Church of Christ is, that her mem- 
bers be taught to sing her psalmody. No matter to what perfection she 
may attain in her Collections of Hymns and Tunes, their greatest per- 
fections remain a dead letter to the mass of disciples, because no adequate 
means is provided for their learning them. 

The need of the times is, that we have some feasible plan for teaching 
congregations, as such, the art of singing for worship. The author claims 
that this need is fully met in the Teachers' Edition of the New Chris- 
tian Hymn and Tune-Book. 

It is a collection of superior hymns and tunes, presented in the simplest 
form of notation, with the necessary preparatory lessons and exercises for 
teaching and learning to sing. In a word, it is a complete Hymn and 
Tune-Book, presented in the form of a perfect manual of instruction for 
teaching congregational singing. 

It contains all the matter of the Hymn and Tune-Book, the pages and 
numbers of the hymns corresponding, so that no confusion can arise from 
using the books together. It also contains rudiments and exercises for 
Singing-Schools, and a selection of Anthems. 

Price, Single copy '. $ 90 

Per dozen, by express 9.00 

Per dozen, by mail 10.80 

Orders promptly filled. Correspondence with agents and singing 
teachers solicited. Good terms offered. 



THE CHRISTIAN HYMNAL. REVISED— 1882. 



The new Hymnal contains 320 octavo pages, printed from new electro- 
type plates, on tinted and super calendered paper. 

No. 1. Cloth, red edges $ 75 

Per dozen, by express 7.50 

Per dozen, by mail 8.75 

No. 2. Silk Cloth, extra embossed sides, new stamp, bev- 
eled boards, vermillion edge polished, sewed on 
tapes, blank book style, giving a more flexible 

and stronger back 1.20 

No. 3. Same as No. 2, with morocco back 1.50 

No. 4. Same as No. 2, full morocco 2.60 

No. 5. Morocco Antique, gilt edge 3.25 

No. 6. Morocco, full gilt 3.75 



6 JOHN burns' catalogue op 

CHEAP EDITION. 

A cheap edition, bound in boards, printed on cheap paper. 

Single copy, by mail $ 50 

Per dozen, by mail 5.80 

Per dozen, by express 4.80 

WORD EDITION. 

Contains all the hymns of the Revised Hymnal, with corresponding 
numbers, but no music. 

Bound in Silk Cloth, red edge $ 50 

Per dozen, by express 4.80 

Per dozen, by mail 5.40 

Bound in English cloth , plain edge 35 

Per dozen, by express 3.60 

Per dozen, by mail 4.20 

Bound in boards , 25 

Per dozen, by express " 2.40 

Per dozen, by mail 3.00 

Christian Hymnal — Old edition. Price list furnished 
when desired. 

Christian Hymn Books. Large supply on hand. Prices 
furnished when desired. 

Pulpit Bibles. To meet the frequent demand for Bibles 
especially suited for pulpit use, we are prepared 
to ship on receipt of order the following styles. 

American Morocco, Antique, Sprinkled edges 5.00 
English Levant, Antique style, Gilt Edges. . 7.50 
Turkey Morocco 10.00 

Large clear type, excellent paper, fine printing and strongly bound. 
They contain none of the extra features, illustrations or illuminations 
found in our fine line of Family Bibles, and are so desirable in the home 
circle, but which are objectionable in a Pulpit Bible. A large assortment 
of Family, Teachers' and Pocket Bibles. Send for price lists. 

Challen, James; Koinonia; or, the. Weekly Contri- 
bution $ 40 

Coop and Exley ; A Trip Around the World 1.50 



CHRISTIAN BOOKS, ETC. / 

Collins, Dr. Aimer M., A. M.; Prohibition vs. Personal 
Liberty ; or, The Liquor Traffic Examined in the 
Light of Science, Theology, and Civil Govern- 
ment, Paper $ 35 

Cloth 50 

Bible Temperance, Paper 40 

Cloth 1.00 

Contradictions of Orthodoxy ; or, The Chicago 

Controversy over Salvation, Paper 25 

Cloth 50 

The Great Living Issue. A series of addresses 
bearing upon temperance issues as now 
being agitated in many States, especially in 

the great West, Paper 35 

Cloth 50 

Cory, N. E.; The Polymathist , 2.C0 

Davies, Mrs. Eliza ; Story of an Earnest Life 2.00 

Dungan, D. R.; On the Rock ; or, Truth Stranger than 

Fiction 1.50 

Rum, Ruin, and the Remedy 1.00 

Modern Phases of Skepticism 1.50 

Errett, Isaac ; Walks about Jerusalem 1.50 

Talks to Bereans 1.00 

Letters to a Young Christian, Paper 35 

Cloth 75 

Ezzell, S. R.; The Great Legacy, Cloth ' 1.50 

Arabesque 2.00 

Foy, Joseph H.; Supplementary Chapter on Modern 
Revivalism in Walsh's " Moody's Theology Ex- 
amined," Paper , 25 

Cloth 50 

Francis, Margaret ; Rose Carleton's Reward 1.00 

Franklin, Benjamin ; Gospel Preacher, Vol. 1 2.00 

Gospel Preacher, Vol. 2 2.00 

Reynoldsburg Debate . 1 .00 



8 



JOHN BURNS' CATALOGUE OF 



Franklin, Joseph, and Joel A. Headington; The Life 
and Times of Benjamin Franklin, Editor of the 

American Christian Review. Cloth $2.00 

Sheep, Library Style 2.50 

Turkey Morocco, Full Gilt 4.00 

A Book of Gems ; or, Choice Selections from 

the Writings of Benj . Franklin. Cloth 2.00 

Sheep, Library Style 2.50 

Turkey Morocco. Full Gilt 4.00 

Garfield, President James A.; The Great Speeches of 
President Garfield, with a Memorial Supplement, 

Cloth 3.00 

Sheep, Library Style 3.75 

Half Morocco, Cloth Sides, Gilt Edges 5.00 

Garfield, Life of President; by William Ralston Balch, 
editor of The American, etc. Printed on finely 
calendered paper, richly illustrated, elegantly 

bound in English Cloth, 760 pages 1 .50 

Venetian Morocco . . . . 2.50 

Revised Edition ; Profusely illustrated and 
printed on very fine paper. Decidedly the 
best life of the late President that has been 
published. Choice silk -faced cloth, Gilt 

Edges 3.00 

Full Morocco. , 5.00 

Garrison, J. H.; The Heavenward Way ; or, Words to 

Young Converts, Limp Cloth 35 

Stiff Cloth 50 

Green, Frank M.; The Ministers' Manual, for the use of 
Church Officers in the various relations of 
Evangelists, Pastors, Bishops and Deacons, 

Cloth 1.00 

Flexible Morocco, Gilt Edges 1.50 

The Standard Sunday-School Manual 1.00 

Life of President Garfield, Cloth 1.50 

Half Morocco , 2.50 



CHRISTIAN BOOKS, ETC. V 

Griffith, Prof. A. A.; Class Book of Oratory .$1.50 

Climax Series, No. 1, Paper 30 

Boards 50 

Hall, Alexander Wilford; Problem of Human Life, 

Cloth 2.00 

Sheep, Library Style 2.50 

Universalism Against Itself. This book has been 

thoroughly revised by the author, Cloth — 1.00 

Hand, G. R.; D.B. Ray's Text Book on Campbellism Ex- 
posed 1.00 

Hardin, J. H.; The Sunday-School Helper 50 

Hartzell, Jonas ; The Baptismal Controversy 1.50 

The Divinity of Christ, Paper 75 

Hayden, Amos Sutton; Early History of the Disciples 

in the Western Reserve 2.00 

Hinsdale, B. A., A. M.; Genuineness and Authenticity 

of the Gospels 1.25 

Ecclesiastical Tradition 75 

President Garfield and Education 1.50 

Jaganatha, Pandita; The Story of N ala and Damayanti. 
An Indian legend, preserved in the arch- 
ives of Hindoostan ; Translated from the 
Sanskrit into English prose 25 

Johnson, B. W.; A Vision of the Ages 1.25 

McGarvey, Prof. J. W.; Commentary on Acts 1.50 

Commentary on Matthew and Mark, Cloth 2.00 

Lands of the Bible, Cloth 3.00 

Sheep 3.50 

Half Morocco 4.00 

McLean, Archibald ; The Commission, Paper 40 

Cloth 75 

Martin, J. L.; Voice of Seven Thunders 1.50 

Mathes, J. M.; Western Preacher 2.00 

Life of Elder E. Goodwin 1.25 



10 JOHN burns' catalogue of 

Milligan, Robert; Analysis of the Four Gospels and 

Acts $2.00 

Commentary on Hebrews 2.00 

Reason and Revelation 2.00 

The Scheme of Redemption 2.00 

Great Commission 1.00 

Missouri Christian Lectures, 1882 1.00 

Monser, J. W.; An Encyclopedia on the Evidences or 

Masterpieces of Many Minds, Cloth 3.00 

Sheep, Library Style 3.50 

Half Morocco, Gilt Edges 5.00 

Types and Mataphors of the Bible 

Moore, W. T.; Views of Life 1.50 

The Pulpit of the Christian Church 3.00 

Munnell and Sweeney Debate : Shall Christians go to 

War? 1.00 

New Testament Commentary. To be completed in eleven 
volumes. Three volumes now ready. 
Vol. I, Matthew and Mark, by J. W. McGarvey, 
Vol. II, Luke, by J. S. Lamar. 
Vol. IX, Hebrews, by R. Milligan. 

Price per volume, cloth ... 2.00 

Sheep 2.50 

. Half Calf 3.00 

Pinkerton, L. L.; Bible Questions 25 

Radford, B. J.; The Court of Destiny, and other Poems 1.00 
Randall and Sleeth Debate: Holy Spirit in Conversion. . 1.00 

Reynolds, Pres. J. C; The Moberly Pulpit 75 

Richardson, Dr. Robert; Memoirs of Alexander Camp- 
bell, two volumes, Cloth 4.00 

Sheep 5.00 

Half Morocco 7.00 

Two volumes in one, cloth v 3.50 

Sheep 4 00 

Communings in the Sanctuary 1.00 

Office of the Holy Spirit 1.50 



CHRISTIAN BOOKS, ETC. 11 

Roe, Wm. M.; Bible vs. Materialism 2": 

Rogers, John ; Biography of John T. Johnson 1.5C 

Rogers, John J.; Autobiography of Elder Samuel Rogers 

Cloth 1.00 

Scott, Walter ; The Messiahship 1 .5C 

Schackleford, Prof. John; Life, Letters and Addresses 

of Lewis L. Pinkerton 1.50 

Symposium on the Holy Spirit ; by A. B. Jones, G. W. 
Longan, Thomas Munnell, J. Z. Taylor, and 

Alexander Campbell 75 

Smith, Butler K.; Serial Discourses • 1.50 

Smith, Prof. A. F.; Earnest Leighton 1.25 

Tyler, J. Z.; Kinship to Christ and other Sermons, CI. 1.50 

Half Morocco, Gilt Edges 2.50 

Walsh, John T.; Looking down the Ages from a Pro- 
phetic Standpoint 1.25 

A Book of Sermons 1.50 

Moody's Theology Exami ned, Paper 25 

Cloth 50 

WilkesandDitzler Debate: What is Christian Baptism? 

Cloth 2.00 

Williams, John Augustus : Life of Elder John Smith.. . 2.00 

» ♦ — • 

CANVASSERS WANTED EVERYWHERE 

—TO SELL— 

Our Publications. 

Great good is now being accomplished, and much more can be, by ener- 
getic men and women, in getting the people to buy and read 
good Christian Literature. 

Libera/ Commissions a I lowed to Active Workers. 

MORE CAMVASSERS always wanted. 
Correspondence Solicited. Address 

JOHN BURNS, Publisher, 

717 & 719 Olive Street, - - ST. LOUIS, MO. 



6-i 



I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1 



019 566 829 2 



1 






^t 



II 
II 

I! 



